Inhalt: Candace Chen, a millennial drone self-sequestered in a Manhattan office tower, is devoted to routine: her work, watching movies with her boyfriend, avoiding thoughts of her recently deceased Chinese immigrant parents. So she barely notices when a plague of biblical proportions sweeps the world. Candace joins a small group of survivors, led by the power-hungry Bob, on their way to the Facility, where, Bob promises, they will have everything they need to start society anew. But Candace is carrying a secret she knows Bob will exploit. Should she escape from her rescuers? A send-up and takedown of the rituals, routines and missed opportunities of contemporary life, Severance is a moving family story, a deadpan satire and a heartfelt tribute to the connections that drive us to do more than survive. Ling Ma was born in Sanming, China and grew up in Utah, Nebraska and Kansas. She attended the University of Chicago and received an MFA from Cornell University. Prior to graduate school she worked as a journalist and editor. Her writing has appeared in Granta , Vice , Playboy , Chicago Reader , Ninth Letter and other publications. A chapter of Severance received the 2015 Graywolf SLS Prize. She lives in Chicago. Winner of the 2019 NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award Winner of the 2018 Kirkus Prize for Fiction Winner of the 2019 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award Winner of the 2019 Friends of American Writers First Prize in Literature Finalist for the 2019 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel Shortlisted for the 2019 Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award for Debut Speculative Fiction A New York Times Notable Book of 2018 An NPR Best Book of 2018 An Elle Best Book of 2018 A Marie Claire Best Book of 2018 A Buzzfeed Best Book of 2018 A Refinery29 Best Book of 2018 A Jezebel Favorite Book of 2018 A Bustle Best Book of 2018 An Electric Lit Best Novel of 2018 A Lit Hub Best Book of 2018 A BookPage Best Book of 2018 A Bookish Best Book of 2018 A Mental Floss Best Book of 2