“The Morningside” is a novel written by Téa Obreht. The work titled “The Morningside” was authored by Téa Obreht.
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“The Morningside” is the most recent literary work by Téa Obreht, the bestselling author of “The Tiger’s Wife” and “Inland,” both of which have been praised by the New York Times. This new novel takes place in a post-apocalyptic city, destroyed by the effects of climate change.
Please refer to the following excerpt.
“The Morningside” by Téa Obreht
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In the past, prior to the desert, my mother and I moved to Island City and settled in a tower known as Morningside. My aunt had been working as the superintendent there for approximately ten years.
For over a hundred years, The Morningside tower was the prized possession of Battle Hill, an affluent neighborhood in the upper city. But now, apart from a few remaining descendants of its original residents, the tower appears abandoned. Its black structure looms over the park and neighboring townhomes, with only a handful of lit windows scattered up its facade like the tones of an incomplete melody. However, on the thirty-third floor, Bezi Duras’s penthouse windows shine brightly day and night in all directions.
When we arrived, most individuals, specifically those targeted by the towers, had left to escape the lack of basic necessities, deterioration, and rising water levels. The remaining people in the city fell into two categories: individuals like my aunt, my mother, and myself who were brought in from other places through the federal Repopulation Program to try to prevent complete abandonment of the urban area, or the determined few locals who remained in their dwindling neighborhoods, hopeful that electing the right person as mayor and fixing the tide pumps would restore their way of life.
The ownership of The Morningside had been transferred multiple times and was now under the management of a man named Popovich. He hailed from the old country, which was the reason my aunt had been employed by him.
I believed Ena was our sole living relative because she was the only one my mother ever discussed and the one towards whom we were consistently moving as we travelled the globe. As a result, she held a prominent position in my thoughts due to the lack of information provided by my typically tight-lipped mother to form an image of her. Ena was a mystery, with no photos or tales to fill in the gaps. I couldn’t even place her exact relation to us, whether she was my mother’s or mine, or a distant relative with no blood ties. The only time I had spoken to her was when we called from Paraiso to inform her of our successful Repopulation paperwork, and my mother made sure to remind me not to forget mentioning “Beanie,” Ena’s recently deceased spouse, before handing me the phone. The name “Beanie” was unfamiliar until that phone call.
This passage is taken from “The Morningside” by Téa Obreht, published by Random House Group in 2024. It is being used with permission from Random House, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC. Any reproduction or reprinting of this excerpt without written permission from the publisher is prohibited.
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“The Morningside” by Téa Obreht
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