By Lauren Bell
Content warning: drug use
Imagine being able to pick and choose memories.
That’s what the experimental drug, Memoroxin—better known by its street name, Mem—essentially does. In The Shimmering State, Meredith Westgate introduces us to a society that has been infiltrated by this drug. Initially, Mem started as treatment for Alzheimer’s; memories could be relived in hopes that they could be recovered. However, once the general public learned of its euphoric effects, its use spread like wildfire. This led to the development of the Center, a cultlike rehabilitation facility specifically for Mem users, where this novel is set.
The plot follows the journey of three characters as they navigate the Center from different nonlinear perspectives. Lucien is a tortured artist who had been stealing his grandmother’s Mem to spend time with his deceased mother. Sophie, an ex-dancer, is the elusive patient that he is drawn to at the Center, and whom Lucien is certain he knows from Before. The third voice is that of Dr. Angelica Sloane, the coordinator at the Center. Originally, Dr. Sloane seems like the perfect villain, self-assured and strong in her convictions that she’s doing work for the better. But her fragility is seen once her daughter becomes one of her patients.
In the first few chapters, the novel reads like an acid trip. This sounds like a criticism but isn’t; it was intentionally done to portray Mem’s vivid influences. Later, Westgate’s writing turns into a very delicate and eloquent prose, complementing her characters’ introspective streams of consciousness against the plastic world of Los Angeles. Westgate prompts us to ponder the Shimmering State: is it a city or a high? Rooted in the setting is also imagery of the ocean, expansive and unpredictable, acting as the physical counterpart to the novel’s themes of the limits of memory, identity, and loss.
I enjoyed reading The Shimmering State. The characters were real and substantial, delving past their tortured artist or villain archetypes. Although Mem isn’t a drug we face in reality, one could draw comparisons to the very real opioid crisis, and Westgate effectively illustrates how addiction affects more than just the user. I have great respect for the harm reduction philosophies sewn into the novel. I found it very well written and admire the way Westgate gave mundane things a fresh approach. In short, The Shimmering State is contemporary, thought provoking, and absolutely worth the read.