A notable evening

What surprised close followers of the award was not only that she was a virtual unknown, but — perhaps even more unlikely — her book was tainted as a thriller with a postapocalyptic theme. Books like this just don’t make it onto the list of finalists for the prestigious award.

To be fair to the author, who resides in Brooklyn by way of Toronto and British Columbia, Mandel had written three previous novels that were well received, but did not post great sales. The books are usually shelved with literary noir, and one reviewer even compared her books to Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl.”

It was while on a book tour in Northwest Michigan for her third novel, “Lola’s Quartet,” that Mandel settled on Michigan as the setting for “Station Eleven.”

For Michigan literary fans, it was a good choice. In December, her book was selected as one of the 20 Michigan Notable Books for 2015 and, by coincidence, the Michigan Humanities Council has selected it as the book for its Great Michigan Read program for 2015-2016. (Full disclosure: the author of this article is a member of both groups.)

In an interview with City Pulse, Mandel called “Station Eleven” a “love letter to the modern world.” It might be better called a breakup letter with the modern world.

The premise for “Station Eleven” is common for end-of-world themed books: A cataclysmic event creates a situation where everything we hold dear to us disappears or is unusable.

Memory, in all its configurations, is of utmost importance to Mandel and is a central theme of the book.

“Everything we hold precious is gone,” Mandel said. “Computer objects, designer shoes, receipts, almost everything you consider important is gone.”

In “Station Eleven,” 99 percent of the world population dies within days, while leaving most of the material world intact. Although she starts with that premise, she takes her book in an altogether different direction than most of the postapocalyptic genre.

“Station Eleven,” which bounces back and forth in time, starts 15 years after the apocalypse and revolves around a traveling Shakespearian troupe (“The Travelling Symphony”) that traverses the shores of Michigan, looking for pockets of population where it can perform its music and plays.

At one particular stop, a former airport, a survivor has created the Museum of Civilization — a museum with relics from the past.

“There are a number of impractical shoes, stilettos mostly, beautiful and strange,” Mandel writes. “There were three car engines in a row, cleaned and polished. Traders brought things, objects of no real value: magazines and newspapers, a stamp collection, coins.”

Mandel is precise in her writing, even going to the extent of creating an Excel sheet to keep track of time jumps and characters.

She said there are no plans for a sequel, but perhaps a spinoff.

Mandel will join the other 2015 Michigan Notable Book award winners Saturday at the 15th annual Night for Notables, hosted by the Library of Michigan Foundation.

Carolyn Sparks, executive director of the foundation, said the list of winners represents many genres, from fiction to poetry to short story collections to children’s books.

Night for Notables also gives readers an opportunity to interact with authors on a personal level.

“(The authors) are very approachable,” said Sparks. “It is a much different experience than a book tour.”

Linda Hundt, local memoirist and author of “Sweetie-licious Pies: Eat Pies, Love Life,” will deliver the keynote presentation. Hundt, who lives in Dewitt, was a 2014 Michigan Notable Book Award Winner.

Coincidentally, another 2015 Notable Books winner, Josh Malerman, has a somewhat similar book to Mandel’s. Malerman’s “Bird Box” also covers post-apocalyptic ground — or in this case water — as a mother attempts to ferry her children downriver to freedom from an unidentified, seemingly other-worldly threat.

Each year, Michigan Notable Books authors present a statewide book tour. Locally, the East Lansing Public Library hosts Sean Madigan Hoen, author of “Songs Only You Know,” on Sunday at 3:30 p.m., and the Delta Township Library hosts Lisa Lenzo, author of “Strange Love,” on June 9 at 6 p.m. Mandel will be at the Howell Carnegie District Library on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. For full details on the Night for Notables and the statewide tour, visit michigan.gov/ notablebooks.

While Mandel shoehorns just two library visits into her weekend visit — both in Southeast Michigan —fans should know that she will be back in Michigan several times in the next year as part of the Great Michigan Read.

In the meantime, think what you could live without in a post-apocalyptic world. What are the most important things to you?

Mandel believes they are meaningful personal relationships and art, music and culture.

Night for Notables

5:30-8:30 p.m. Saturday, April 25 $40 Library of Michigan 702 W. Kalamazoo St., Lansing libraryofmichigan foundation.org