As the novel begins, a mysterious box is delivered to everyone in the world over age 22. From a bustling city in Europe to suburban enclaves in America to African villages, everyone gets one. Inside the box is a string. Its length determines how long you will live.

I was immediately hooked. What would I do? Would I open the box? Would I be able to resist knowing? Would I not want to know? And if I held a short string in my hand, how would I cope? Would I completely change course or remain fully entrenched in the life I was living? The same thoughts rippled through the characters in this book.

The world immediately changes with the knowledge.

Everyone is in a frenzy. There are individual choices to be made as well as societal ones. The story centers on eight characters who know their fate and the fate of their loved ones. But this knowing about longevity affects all aspects of life —even those they can’t control. Employers can use the information to hire or fire; the military can use the knowledge to deploy its soldiers or not; a politician can and does use the information as a powder keg in the interest of his own power.

The book focuses on eight characters. As we get to know them, we experience the many ways they choose to move forward when knowing their fates. Many of them meet in a support group which is a very effective way to move the story forward. The characters are unforgettable and fully realized. Most are sympathetic as they grapple with how the length of the string impacts how they choose to live.

Several years ago, I read and reviewed Chloe Benjamin’s book, The Immoralists. (https://jantramontano.wordpress.com/would you want to know how long you have to live?) This novel centers around siblings who are told by a fortune teller when they are children what their exact date of death will be. They did not do well with this information and it completely drove the trajectory of their lives.

The Measure is a very different book. It is categorized as science fiction and embraces a fuller consideration of consequences. Renee, a member of my book club wanted us to read and discuss it. During our discussion, she gave us all small boxes. We talked about whether or not we would open them. Inside of course was not a prediction but a quote from the book on how best to live. This was mine:

The great American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, ‘It is not the length of life but the depth of life.’ You don’t need a long lifetime to make an impact on the world. You just need the will to do so.“

Something to remember or at least strive toward.

Although it is, of course, in the realm of the future, it seemed very real and possible in our current world. Perhaps not the actual delivery of the boxes but the world into which they were delivered.

This is a debut novel for Ms. Erlick. She has been previously published in many upscale magazines. However, If this is her first rodeo, I think we have excellent, provocative reading to look forward to.

I highly recommend reading and talking about a book that at its heart, is a deeply uplifting story encouraging all of us to live a full life.