The Measure
Nikki Erlick
368 pages
The Borough Press
July 7, 2022
Your fate arrives in a box on your doorstep. Do you open it?
It’s the decision of a lifetime. It seems like just another morning. You make a cup of tea. Check the news. Open the front door. On your doorstep is a box. Inside the box is the exact number of years you have left to live. The same box appears on every doorstep across the world.
The Measure is a transfixing contemplation of fate, a piercing exploration of how we value our lives, and a soaring story of love and heartbreak. When the world shifts irrevocably overnight, each character is faced with an immense decision. As boxes open across the world, their lives intertwine in moving, unexpected ways. An unforgettable story of love, resilience, and hope. Perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, David Nicholls, Matt Haig and Stuart Turton.
The Measure was acquired in a global pre-empt with HarperCollins US, with a TV
adaptation in development, Nikki Erlick is a lead debut and one to watch for 2022.
My Review
This is such a departure from my normal read and a few days after finishing I am still struggling for what to write. The premise is you wake up one morning with a box at your front door that holds a string that represents the length of your life. It was so thought provoking. Would you even want to know? Would you believe it? Would this enhance your life? Would you do anything differently? How would you handle those around you with better or worse news? As you follow the characters, this is all intertwined in the plot. Do you owe anyone your answer? Does your government or health care owe you anything and should they intervene?
The book does a fantastic job handling the highs and lows, the tragedies and the triumphs. I went on a roller coaster of emotions reading this one. There are quite a few characters with differing situations and thoughts on it all.
If this one isn’t on your radar, it should be. While not your typical summer read, I highly recommend it. This is the perfect book club read. There are so many angles, you could discuss this all night
About the author
Nikki Erlick’s writing has appeared on the websites of New York Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Newsweek, Cosmopolitan and The Huffington Post. She graduated Harvard University summa cum laude and is a former editor of The Harvard Crimson. She earned a master’s degree in Global Thought from Columbia University. The Measure is her debut novel.
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