Doubles and a Divided Future: Mandel’s Exit Party and the End of Consensus
Author Emily St John Mandel discusses Exit Party, a 2031 Los Angeles-set novel that toggles between two possible futures—a chaotic civil war and a surveillance state—where doubles and the “counter-life” shape how we imagine reality. She explains how real-world events influenced the timelines, her preference for speculative fiction to illuminate the present, and her process of writing without outlines. The interview also touches on her forays into television adaptations, and personal milestones including her divorce in 2022 and remarriage in 2025.