Introduction

In this thoughtful, mesmerizing tale with echoes of Station Eleven, the author of An Uncommon Education follows a group of survivors thrown together in the aftermath of two major earthquakes that strike San Francisco within an hour of each other—an achingly beautiful and lyrical novel about the power of nature, the resilience of the human spirit, and the enduring strength of love.

On Valentine’s Day, two major earthquakes strike San Francisco within the same hour, devastating the city and its primary entry points, sparking fires throughout, and leaving its residents without power, gas, or water.

Among the disparate survivors whose fates will become intertwined are Max, a man who began the day with birthday celebrations tinged with regret; Vashti, a young woman who has already buried three of the people she loved most . . . but cannot forgot Max, the one man who got away; and Gene, a Stanford geologist who knows far too much about the terrifying earthquakes that have damaged this beautiful city and irrevocably changed the course of their lives.

As day turns to night and fires burn across the city, Max and Vashti—trapped beneath the rubble of the collapsed Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium—must confront each other and face the truth about their past, while Gene embarks on a frantic search through the realization of his worst nightmares to find his way back to his ailing lover and their home.

Editorial Review

An Amazon Best Book of March 2016: Beautiful in its language and soul-touching in its characters, All Stories Are Love Stories opens with a statement to the reader that very-near-future San Francisco will be hit by a catastrophic earthquake in less than eight hours, and a firestorm will sweep the city shortly afterward. This ticking clock--and the fore-shocks that rattle the main characters every few chapters--keep nerves taut even as Elizabeth Percer gently unearths the backgrounds of baker Vashti, her long-ago boyfriend and only love Max, and geology expert Gene (who, quite unfortunately, just torpedoed a coworker’s desire for a public announcement predicting an earthquake because Gene didn’t find the data credible enough). Each is a transplant to San Francisco, and each has baggage that Elizabeth Percer opens up and carefully explores. When the quake hits mid-book, the crisis gives Max and Vashiti another chance to rebuild their broken love, and offers Gene a shot at redemption as he staggers through the burning city to save his MS-afflicted husband. While the love stories of the three characters form the heart and lungs of the book, the characters’ conflicted passion for fragile and vibrant San Francisco is the pulse, always beating in the background even as buildings crumble. Complex yet simple, just like real love, this novel will open up your heart…and make you long for a trip to San Francisco. —Adrian Liang

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