Sigrid Nunez’s newest novel “Salvation City” is a post-apocalyptic story that isn’t too concerned with the apocalypse. True, there is a horrible disaster, followed by a brave new future world. But there’s no oppressive political situation, no widespread anarchy or social disarray. By the time the action starts, the storm has passed, and everything seems to be recovering — partly because unlike (far too) many apocalyptic novels, “Salvation City” manages to keep its focus on the characters. Nunez is more concerned with creating emotional connections between a few people affected by a great tragedy than conveying another heavy-handed message.
At its heart, “Salvation City” is really a coming-of-age story. In the midst of a worldwide flu epidemic, adolescent protagonist Cole Vining falls ill; by the time he awakens, he has been orphaned. Raised by atheists, Cole is adopted by Pastor Wyatt, an evangelical priest, and brought to a religious community. The story follows Cole’s life there as he witnesses both the hypocrisy and compassion of religion and is forced to figure out what kind of life he wants for himself.
Cole is an odd hero because he can be so damn unlikable. As “Salvation City” begins, he is alternately apathetic, self-loathing and self-pitying. In flashbacks, he reveals that he could barely muster up any feelings at all while the apparent end of humanity was unfolding. The television shows stacks and stacks of corpses being set afire, and Cole only shrugs. And when he is given false hope that the flu has ended, he almost seems happy. “He believed his parents when they said they weren’t going to die,” Nunez wrote. “They would all go on living, day after day, in the same dumb, totally fucked up way.”
Thankfully, Cole grows over the course of the novel. This takes quite a while, but there are other, strongly written characters to amuse readers in the meantime and to guide his development. Pastor Wyatt, for example, is a deeply complex character. He comes from an alcoholic background and struggles with his demons as he tries to care for both Cole and his church. Perhaps even more interesting is Wyatt’s wife Tracy. On one hand, she is almost absurdly stupid; when she tries to home-school Cole, she writes “Eggsssellent!!!” on all of his assignments. On the other hand, it’s undeniable that she cares about him. When he has a panic attack, she is there to try to comfort him, even as he kicks and bites at her. Characters like these fill the novel, making Cole’s evolution from unintelligent jerk to sympathetic adult both believable and stirring.
“Salvation City” is not without its flaws, most of them stemming from Nunez’ attempts at a political message. All of the characters in the book have politics that fall cleanly into one of two categories: Bible-thumpin’, gun-totin’, dumb-as-nails conservatism or snooty, Europhilic high-and-mighty liberalism. There’s even a scene where Cole’s mother pops antidepressants and whines that all Midwesterners care about is “fucking basketball.” The book is so filled with heavy-handed partisan stereotypes that it’s nigh impossible to get anything out of its political moments.
Still, this stumbling does not occur too often, and does not detract much from the very human nature of the characters. In “Salvation City” Nunez manages to show the resilience of humanity in the face of absolute horror. It’s an apocalyptic novel that, for the most part, respects its readers enough not to taunt them with clichéd horror and emotional manipulation.