Children think we make them, but we don’t … They come into the world and make us. They make us by breaking us first.
The world is mostly water when Pearl is born. The floods have left America a cluster of small islands with roving trade ships and raiders.
Pearl knows little of her father Jacob and elder sister Row, who left her mother Myra when she was pregnant with her. Between them they make do, with Myra fishing and trading to make ends meet, travelling from island to island on Bird, the boat Myra’s grandfather made before he died.
Whilst their life is a tranquil one, Myra still aches for the daughter she once lost. When a chance encounter reveals that Row might still be alive, Myra packs up six-year-old Pearl and together they begin a dangerous voyage to The Valley, where rumours of violence and breeding ships run rampant.
After The Flood is both beautiful and heartbreaking, a rich tapestry of emotion set against the backdrop of a gone away world.
The post apocalyptic setting allows the author to explore a range of human feeling when every day brings new challenges, resources are short and staying alive has to be the first priority…but what then of actually living?
The story follows Myra and daughter Pearl, on a quest to find the missing Row, taken away by her Father before Pearl was born. Along the way they will find both friend and foe, hope and fear, it is an involving, epic drama with some intensely beautiful writing and a melancholy sense that lingers long after you turn the final page.
I’m not ashamed to say that I bawled like a baby when it was all over, the characters lived on the page and in my head for the entirety of the read, this is a little literary beauty, I adored it and simply can’t wait to see what Kassandra Montag does next.
Truly excellent on every level. Highly Recommended.
You can purchase After The Flood (Borough Press) Here.
Happy Reading!
