The Cartographers

This was a fun novel by Peng Shepherd that informed me about rare and antique maps, copyright traps, and cartographers. It also had an involved mystery plot and elements of the supernatural (at least I think so--but who really knows?). Or as Library Journal describes it, "A campus novel, a library novel, a work of magical realism: Shepherd ...deftly blends all three in an engrossing tale involving maps, murders, and rooms that are not there." Protagonist Nell Young has loved maps ever since she was a little girl, raised by her reknowned cartography scholar dad, Daniel Young. Nell's mother, also a cartographer, died in a house fire when Nell was young and, although her father has shared his passion for maps, he has been a somewhat distant parent, often more focused on his cartography research at the Maps Division of the New York Public Library. When Nell graduates with her degree in cartography, she and her boyfriend Felix, both land internships at NYPL's Maps Division, and Nell's promising work there puts her in line for a full-time position until she clashes with her father over a box of maps--labeled "Junk"--that she unearths in the basement archives. They are both stubborn and Daniel inexplicably gets both Nell and Felix fired as a condition of his continuing at NYPL.  Seven years later, Nell has been working at a boring job with the only company that would hire her, making copies of antique maps to adorn people's walls. She and Felix have not spoken since and he has gone to work for a mega-corporation that aggregates data from every aspect of human activity, producing the Haberson Map. Then Nell gets a call from the police demanding she come to the NYPL immediately, where she learns her father has died. Was it from natural causes or did someone help him on his way? While there, she discovers the old folding highway map over which they fought, hidden in a secret desk drawer her father once showed her. There the mystery begins.

Reviews are glowing with Publishers Weekly concluding, "Possessed of a questing intellect and a determined stubbornness, Nell proves smart enough to solve the various riddles she faces. Shepherd’s convincing blend of magic from old maps with the modern online world both delights and thrills." Kirkus offers, "Shepherd plots page-turning twists and revelations with ease and excels in her knowledge of historical maps and cartographical mysteries. The inclusion of map diagrams and detailed flashbacks carry the reader right alongside Nell as she attempts to disentangle an increasingly complex, slightly supernatural secret. In an author's note, Shepherd promises that “something magical happens” when a person follows a map that lies, and this book will make you believe it. A highly inventive novel that pushes the boundaries of reality." The Washington Post points out some of the provocative questions raised by the story: "One of the triumphs of “The Cartographers” is the exploration of what it means to make a map. Does the act of surveying, measuring, drafting and drawing the map affect the landscape it represents? Is it possible to map something without altering it in the process? How accurate can any map be, given that it only represents a snapshot of that landscape at one point in time, and to what extent does this matter?"