By Catherine Leroux
2024 Canada Reads Winner
Adult Fiction
No short paragraph would describe this novel. We are transported to a time and place, dystopian in nature and hardly imaginable outside of a graphic-type feature.
The adult population are living in an impoverished and broken community. The children, mostly preteen, are surviving in a nearby secluded, heavily forested area where they developed a surreal society, surreal skills for survival, and guard their space and lifestyle ingeniously. There is mostly ignorance, poverty and mistrust, particularly of adults and so-called law enforcement.
I put this book down many times thinking I wouldn't go on. I pushed myself to finish the story, wondering if I had wasted my time.
It is a 'can you imagine' story, fantasy-like in some respects, seeming almost animated. It offers a truly frightening insight into what a future world might look like given the present political and climate issues of today, and the long-term effect of global warming.
It might have been useful to get some background on the setting of the book (Detroit) before reading it.
What did others who have read this book think? It would be interesting to hear their take on it.
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