Hi friends,

It's wild to think about, but The Unmapping has been out in the world for three months now!

Everything leading up to and after the release was a whirlwind. Sitting on panels with Denise at BookNet Fest, celebrating all the Bindery books in New York, having a Q&A at Politics & Prose—all of it was such a blast, even if by the end, Denise and I both agreed we could use a little break from talking. (Leave it to the introverts...)

One of the things I’ve loved most is watching how Denise responds to readers’ interpretations of her work. She’s created a story that invites plenty of them. Part of why I picked The Unmapping is because it doesn’t hold your hand or insist on a single meaning. It’s a story of all kinds of people, making good and bad choices, shaped by their world and their worldview, all caught up in the same disaster. And what emerges between those stories, about community, organization, conspiracy theories, climate change, love, and fidelity, leaves space for us as readers to step in, pick up pieces, and interpret.

I’ve seen Denise listen to readers share what they took away from this book and respond (with far more grace than this single sentence suggests) with some version of “I love that you got that from my story.”

And, honestly, that's exactly what I wanted readers to experience when I chose The Unmapping—a book you could really think into.

Three months in, I’m still hoping and working toward this book finding more and more of its audience. I think it's such a cool story, one that does the unexpected, and that if you'll let it, will settle into your brain for a good while.

With that in mind, whether you’ve read it yet or not, I wanted to share an annotated version of Chapter 1. It’s full of little behind-the-scenes details about the story and the publishing journey.

And if you haven’t picked it up yet, I can’t recommend the audiobook enough. Julia Whelan’s performance is spectacular. Plus, if you grab it directly from Audiobrary, you’ll get the bonus interview with Denise, Julia, and me. Audiobrary even has a rental option.

Thank you for all of your support of The Unmapping! I love seeing pictures of it when you find it in the wild, and I appreciate every person who ordered a copy, requested it from their library, left a review, or posted about it online.

If my city ever started randomly rearranging itself at 4 am every day, I'd want to go through that all with you. (Or something like that...)

♥️

Mari