In the midst of a mysterious environmental crisis, as London is submerged below flood waters, a woman gives birth to her first child, Z. Days later, the family are forced to leave their home in search of safety. As they move from place to place, shelter to shelter, their journey traces both fear and wonder as Z's small fists grasp at the things he sees, as he grows and stretches, thriving and content against all the odds.
This is a story of new motherhood in a terrifying setting: a familiar world made dangerous and unstable, its people forced to become refugees. Startlingly beautiful, Megan Hunter's The End We Start From is a gripping novel that paints an imagined future as realistic as it is frightening. And yet, though the country is falling apart around them, this family's world - of new life and new hope - sings with love.
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[I am hours from giving birth, from the event I thought would never happen to me, and R has gone up a mountain]***
(@picadorbooks, 3 May 2018, first published 14 November 2017, 129 pages, paperback, borrowed from @GlasgowLib)
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So apparently cli-fi (climate fiction) is a new genre that's cropped up in recent years. This is the second cli-fi book I've read and the other one was about flooding as well. I read this in a single sitting and felt sad when I reached the final page. I could easily have spent another couple of hours with the characters. I like the fact the characters don't have names and are just given initials R, Z, N etc. I found this really sad but also oddly believable. I guess if the apocalypse comes names cease to be important. This is a sparse, haunting book. There is a lot of love and hope as well as baby Z thrives in this new, harsh world and brings light into the world of everyone he encounters.
