Delighted to be kicking off the blog tour for the paperback publication of When the Flood Came by Clare Morrall. My thanks to the author and Sceptre for the review copy.
In a world prone to violent flooding, Britain, ravaged 20 years earlier by a deadly virus, has been largely cut off from the rest of the world. Survivors are few and far between, most of them infertile. Children, the only hope for the future, are a rare commodity.
For 22-year-old Roza Polanski, life with her family in their isolated tower block is relatively comfortable. She's safe, happy enough. But when a stranger called Aashay Kent arrives, everything changes. At first he's a welcome addition, his magnetism drawing the Polanskis out of their shells, promising an alternative to a lonely existence. But Roza can't shake the feeling that there's more to Aashay than he's letting on. Is there more to life beyond their isolated bubble? Is it true that children are being kidnapped? And what will it cost to find out?
Clare Morrall, author of the Man Booker Prize-shortlisted Astonishing Splashes of Colour, creates a startling vision of the future in a world not so very far from our own, and a thrilling story of suspense.
My Thoughts:
I actually really like Dystopian fiction, so was intrigued by the premise of this one from the outset. In her latest novel Clare Morrall has managed to create a post apocalyptic landscape that is as interesting as it is scary. Scary in the fact that it had me thinking, could this actually one day happen!
The Polanski family live in Birmingham, one of very few families left. The families live in four tower blocks. Over 20 years ago a virus called Hoffmans swept across Britain bringing with it flooding and a strange infertility that affects the few survivors. There are no cars left, the survivors use the Motorways for bicycles instead. This book, I would suggest is an examination of the fall out of Global Warming, pollution and the marginalisation of people.
In a time when all of the machines are beginning to stop working and parts can no longer be found the families have to survive by themselves in what is at times a desolate situation.
Roza is about to be married to Hector, she met him on the computer. A mysterious stranger called Aashay arrives on the scene. There is where the story gets more intriguing.
I found this book to be complex in so many ways, at some points I admittedly found it a tad confusing. The author has a spectacularly vivid imagination that has created the landscape on somewhat familiar territory. I found the landscape and the plot far more interesting than the peculiar characters that are contained within the story.
Throughout the story there are little bits of nursery rhymes that seemed to work well in tying the past to the present. This seems to me to be a good way to understand that words, stories and rhymes can survive great harshness and they will still be recounted in time to come with familiarity. As such they are a lasting reminder of different times.
I can't help thinking that Clare Morrall has written something of an allegory of the world and the direction in which it is heading. Of which some admittedly went over my head. I had to persevere with it, not finding it an easy read. I am glad to have read it. all be it that I found the ending a little ambiguous.
An unusual book within its genre, if you have read it I would love to hear your thoughts.
I actually really like Dystopian fiction, so was intrigued by the premise of this one from the outset. In her latest novel Clare Morrall has managed to create a post apocalyptic landscape that is as interesting as it is scary. Scary in the fact that it had me thinking, could this actually one day happen!
The Polanski family live in Birmingham, one of very few families left. The families live in four tower blocks. Over 20 years ago a virus called Hoffmans swept across Britain bringing with it flooding and a strange infertility that affects the few survivors. There are no cars left, the survivors use the Motorways for bicycles instead. This book, I would suggest is an examination of the fall out of Global Warming, pollution and the marginalisation of people.
In a time when all of the machines are beginning to stop working and parts can no longer be found the families have to survive by themselves in what is at times a desolate situation.
Roza is about to be married to Hector, she met him on the computer. A mysterious stranger called Aashay arrives on the scene. There is where the story gets more intriguing.
I found this book to be complex in so many ways, at some points I admittedly found it a tad confusing. The author has a spectacularly vivid imagination that has created the landscape on somewhat familiar territory. I found the landscape and the plot far more interesting than the peculiar characters that are contained within the story.
Throughout the story there are little bits of nursery rhymes that seemed to work well in tying the past to the present. This seems to me to be a good way to understand that words, stories and rhymes can survive great harshness and they will still be recounted in time to come with familiarity. As such they are a lasting reminder of different times.
I can't help thinking that Clare Morrall has written something of an allegory of the world and the direction in which it is heading. Of which some admittedly went over my head. I had to persevere with it, not finding it an easy read. I am glad to have read it. all be it that I found the ending a little ambiguous.
An unusual book within its genre, if you have read it I would love to hear your thoughts.
About the Author:
Clare Morrall's first novel, Astonishing Splashes of Colour, was published in 2003 and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize that year. She has since published the novels Natural Flights of the Human Mind, The Language of Others, The Man Who Disappeared, which was a TV Book Club Summer Read in 2010, The Roundabout Man andAfter the Bombing.
Born in Exeter, Clare Morrall now lives in Birmingham. She works as a music teacher, and has two daughters.
I really enjoyed this but have to agree with you about the ending. I was hoping that it would become clearer who to trust and who not to but it didn't.
ReplyDeleteI thought perhaps I had misunderstood something and then realised I probably hadn't
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