Portland author Emma Pattee got the idea for her earthquake novel "Tilt" when shopping at IKEA and feeling the building shake.
Geoff Norcross / OPB
In 2019, Emma Pattee was pregnant and shopping for a baby crib at the Portland IKEA when the building started to shake.
“In that moment I thought, ‘Oh my god, it’s the Big One!’” she said. “In the five or 10 seconds that the building was shaking, the book appeared in my mind.”
She’s talking about her new novel, “Tilt,” which tells the story of a young, pregnant Portland woman who experiences the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake while shopping at IKEA and then has to navigate a ruined Portland on foot.
She sat down with OPB “All Things Considered” host Geoff Norcross at the Portland IKEA store to talk about the novel.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Geoff Norcross: What is your understanding of what is going to happen to this building when the earthquake actually happens?
Emma Pattee: That is a question I am reluctant to answer. I will say that when writing the book, it was important to me that we be as accurate as possible. We did pull the building plans, and this building actually is going to fare quite well. It is retrofitted for the earthquake and it is not on ground that is in the liquefaction zone. So that’s very encouraging for our interview right now.
Norcross: Your novel centers around the experience of a young Portland woman named Annie. What can you tell me about her?
Pattee: Annie is from Portland. She is nine months pregnant. She lives in an apartment that she can barely afford with her husband. So many of us who grew up in Portland are pursuing their dreams, but are finding that the way the city is changing is making that harder and harder. So Annie, in this moment at IKEA, is very overwhelmed and frustrated by all the ways that her life really hasn’t turned out the way that she thought it would.
Norcross: How much of your own story did you write into Annie’s?
Pattee: Annie’s story is pretty different than mine, but it was still an experience I really wanted to capture. I grew up in Portland, and a lot of the people I grew up with have been priced out of the city. A lot of us have been chasing artistic dreams that have gotten more and more out of reach as our rents have gone up. And so it was an experience, even if it wasn’t my personal experience, that I really wanted to capture.
Norcross: I’m no seismologist, but I’ve been here a while and I’ve been hearing about this earthquake for a long time. And your description of the destruction feels right. Can you talk a little bit more about what you did to make sure that you had the science right?
Pattee: I’m a journalist, so facts are very interesting to me. So I was already just very inclined to be facts-based when I wrote this book. And as a Portlander, I was very curious to know what the facts were. So I worked with (a) graduate student who was pulling building records, pulling information about streets, checking my work as Annie moved through the city. I also had seismic engineers review the book. I had geologists review parts of the book to make sure they were accurate. And I met with first responders who were on site in some of sort of the largest earthquakes that we’ve seen and were explaining to me how these rescue missions actually take place. Every street in the book is real. Every destruction point in the book is what is expected to happen.
Norcross: I’m wondering how writing this book has affected your thinking about your city and about how ready we are for what’s coming.
Pattee: OK, you guys. I have good news. I am no longer anxious about the earthquake! I have this experience of meeting people who have read this book and saying, “Oh, I was terrified to read this, so anxious about the earthquake. But now I actually feel better.” And I think that those of us who are very anxious about the earthquake, we do really imagine a dystopia. We really imagine a worst-case scenario, and that is not what’s going to happen. So my hope is that this book can actually alleviate anxiety for those who are already very anxious, and it can bring awareness to those who feel completely in the dark about the earthquake.
