The historic town of Vigil Harbor is one of the few promontories on Cape Cod that has been able to maintain a “normal” mode of life 10 years after a pandemic and climatic catastrophes have rearranged the entire existence of both the U.S. and the world at large.

In Julia Glass’ VIGIL HARBOR, the National Book Award-winning author of THE THREE JUNES pulls together a series of preposterous and not-so-preposterous ideas about the world we are not far from becoming. Through the eyes of the main characters, particularly world-famous architect Austin Kepner and his burned-out stepson, Brecht (who came home from college after narrowly escaping a very destructive feat of terrorism), life in Vigil Harbor is a story that deviates only slightly at first from the day-to-day existence in our insane America. However, after a stranded traveler with excessive charisma shows up, things begin to change. A widow then arrives asking questions about her former girlfriend, a strange and mystical woman who has ties to Austin.

"VIGIL HARBOR is a book that asks a little more of your summer reading brain, but its immersion and lessons about our future as a species and as a country are worth every concentrated effort."

Celestino, the man who runs the local landscaping business and works closely with Austin in designing sustainable homes in the area, employs Brecht, who searches for the right time and reason to return to higher education. Because of these two weird travelers, there is a cataclysmic event that has repercussions for everyone in the town, especially Brecht and Celestino. And so the real story of VIGIL HARBOR begins. Part drama, part supernatural fable and part cautionary tale, it is a resoundingly good and immersive piece of fiction.

“The world can look like a terrible place...but listen, late at night is the worst time to dwell on all this existential stuff.” Because of where we are in our own reality and due to the book’s timeline, we don’t need any details about why someone would develop such a thought during a conversation. The world is by turns terrible and wondrous, which is the one thing that hasn’t changed entirely between this seaside town of the future and any such town today. Revelations abound throughout the novel, but there is never any tiresome dialogue.

Glass’ narrative is buoyed by how she offers us gentle glimpses into each person’s makeup. She gives us insight into their souls and the damage done to them during the timeline of the story, sugar cube by sugar cube. Like a hungry thoroughbred, we step quietly and decisively through the town, picking up details and adding them to our sacks full of tidbits of info that will provide a full meal at the end of the book.

To base a novel on a possible future, one of the many that could be awaiting us, and by centering its people on the ocean --- a place of great violence but also great peace, the element most likely to reconfigure itself without the least concern for mankind --- VIGIL HARBOR is both a societal comment and a blueprint for the next step.

The characters are so beautifully drawn, and they do not preach about the past or their regrets over what they didn’t do to protect the old world. Each one has a singular story to tell, and eventually they are woven together in such a deceptively easy way that you may feel gobsmacked. It is a tribute to Glass’ shining prose and heartfelt dialogue that we are so immersed in the moment-to-moment actions of the story that we find surprise in sudden movements.

VIGIL HARBOR is a book that asks a little more of your summer reading brain, but its immersion and lessons about our future as a species and as a country are worth every concentrated effort.