Nell Young’s career as a cartographer ended after a public confrontation with her father, the legendary Dr. Daniel Young, over a seemingly worthless highway map. When Daniel is found dead in his office at the New York Public Library, Nell discovers that same map hidden in his desk. This document is a rare artifact containing a phantom settlement: a deliberate fictional error drawn by a mapmaker that has somehow become a physical reality. Nell joins a group of old family friends known as The Cartographers to protect the map from a collector willing to kill to control the secret of these hidden spaces.
Fans of dark academia and speculative mystery read this book to see technical mapmaking history used as a mechanism for urban fantasy. The narrative explains how cartographers treat errors as both security features and gateways to impossible locations. Readers finish the story with an understanding of Agloe, New York, and the real-world practice of including copyright traps in geographic data. It appeals to those who enjoy puzzles where academic research leads to the discovery of hidden physical architecture.
- Published
- 2022
- Language
- EN
