A reporter chases after broken dreams in Morell’s alternative history of secession from the United States.
Covering the “secessionism beat” for theAtlanticmagazine, Roman Wolfe has traveled around the world and seen the anger and frustration driving people to try to create new nations and divorce themselves from the political status quo. After 17 fraught months of fighting and tension, one movement has succeeded, resulting in Independence, a new country within the Great Plains of the United States that covers parts of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Roman successfully enters the blockaded country, where general instability has left people with dwindling resources, notably fuel. Tensions only continue to mount when a man is found dead—Independence’s first homicide—sparking heated debates about security and illegal immigration. A decimated police force has opened the way for violent local militias and misinformation campaigns about Mexican cartels funneling their smuggling operations into the new nation. (“We didn’t secede from the most powerful country ever to get our rear ends kicked and chased away,” a local tells Roman, justifying his contempt for migrants arriving from Mexico and Central America.) Roman drifts through towns observing and writing about what he sees, but his real motivations for coming to Independence are revealed when he reconnects with Kat Taylor, a veterinarian that he had met by chance in Texas years earlier. Kat has consumed his thoughts ever since their passionate encounter, and he has been desperate to see her again, even desperate enough to come to Independence to try to build a life there. While Kat seems uneasy around Roman, the two decide to fix up an old farm together, struggling to find their way as a new couple in a country that is also laboring to find its footing. Elections bring more political instability as mayor Albert Gonzalez rises to power, further destabilizing the allocation of resources and igniting the fiery rhetoric around freedom and community.
Morell successfully builds an expansive and immersive world out of a “what if” scenario. From Roman’s first summaries of various uprisings and populist movements to his struggle to get a money transfer into an embargoed country, Morell’s alternate history feels dense with realistic detail. Independence becomes a strange microcosm of the real world, with debates about immigration and government overreach. It’s a fascinating thought experiment exploring notions of self-determination and freedom; readers will encounter the same infuriating problems and political theater they see on the news. (“It seemed everyone harbored their own propriety blend of reality,” Roman reflects as revolutionary rebels turn against the government they supposedly chose.) Roman’s bittersweet romance with Kat should be a source of more interpersonal and emotional drama, but her sudden appearance feels inorganic and forced. (“In part two of this book, she’s inextricably intertwined with my experiences,” Roman announces abruptly to readers.) The protagonist’s disconnected, sparse, first-person narration works well when he is drifting aimlessly through desolate landscapes, but it does not feel appropriate to the troubled romance central to the book’s latter half. Readers curious about political science and visions of the future will nonetheless find it compellingly troubling how strangely familiar Morell’s fantasy world feels.
Despite an uneven story, Morell delivers an unsettling, thought-provoking perspective on political realities.