‘The Measure’ – Nikki Erlick

The idea of getting the measure of something is toyed with here in an intriguing book, which got off to a slow start but which drew together in an eminently satisfying way. Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this before its expected May 2022 publication in exchange for sharing my thoughts.

We are asked to imagine a world where the world’s population is, one day, given a delivery of a wooden box left on their doorstep. For those who open it they discover a piece of string. Nobody knows where the boxes have come from or what the string signifies and the initial confusion/panic was well-presented.

Introduced to quite a number of characters, this made it quite hard for me to get into. I felt a certain disconnect initially, perhaps mirroring the sense of unease and uncertainty about the boxes.

Over time we learn that the string length represents how much time you have left. This, quite naturally, throws up some interesting ideas about how we live our lives and the extent to which others should control our lives.

As we develop our knowledge of the scenario and see how characters respond to events, it was easier to feel some affinity with them. This raises some interesting questions, and I can see this book proving a hit with many readers. The closing message felt rather earnest, though in current times where we are facing (potentially) further restrictions it will certainly resonate.