After a mysterious illness sweeps the world, normalcy is hard to come by in Laura van den Berg’s State of Paradise. That’s especially true for her unnamed protagonist, a ghostwriter who is living in her recently deceased mother’s Florida home. While she’s there, her virtual reality-obsessed sister goes missing, setting off an investigation that leads the ghostwriter down a rabbit hole of family secrets and long-buried childhood memories. Van den Berg’s descriptions of her swampy home state are visceral and keenly observed, propelling a gripping narrative about ghosts, grief, and technology.
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Write to Annabel Gutterman at annabel.gutterman@time.com