In this section:
A story of survival and obsession, this complex psychological portrait framed by compelling drama, it is by turns sensual, poignant and sinister.
The world has been ravaged by climate change and Rachel is left to fend for herself. Living amid a clutch of disparate communities whose inhabitants she chooses to avoid, she rarely ventures beyond the safety of the storm wall. But when Jez White disturbs her twilight existence, Rachel finds herself in a murky territory somewhere between stalking and being stalked.
has worked in the music industry for 25 years. This is her first novel. An extract from her second novel, From the Doghouse, is published in The Brighton Book.
See also The Book Depository interview and Martine McDonagh's blog.
Martine McDonagh writes with a cool, clear confidence about a world brought to its knees. Her protagonist, a woman living alone but battling on into the future, is utterly believable, as are her observations of the sodden landscape she finds herself inhabiting. This book certainly got under my skin – if you like your books dark and more than a little disturbing this is one for you.
It paints an all-too-convincing picture of life in the rural Midlands in the middle of this century – cold and stormy, with most modern conveniences long-since gone, and with small, mainly self-sufficient, communities struggling to maintain a degree of social order. It is very atmospheric and certainly leaves an indelible imprint on the psyche.
An exquisitely crafted début novel set in a post-apocalyptic landscape...I'm rationing myself to five pages per day in order to make it last.
A decidedly original tale... Psychologically sophisticated, it demands our attention. Ignore it, O Philistines, at your peril.
Dehumanized and primitive, the world according to this book is material for blurry nightmares, an insidious scary film or accurate lessons in futurology. Martine McDonagh has worked in the rock industry for a long time and her writing still works to this tempo, to these dynamics - physical, sensual and nerve-wracking.
The dank post-apocalyptic atmosphere of Martine McDonagh's first novel perfectly suits her tale of obsessive love lost amongst civilization's ruins. The writing touches subconscious strata; the mystery unfolds hypnotically; the reader is drawn into a parallel universe all too frighteningly real.
