by Maria Popova
First published 2025
Dr. Sarah Chen stands in her laboratory, watching news reports of riots spreading across three continents. As a Quaker committed to nonviolence and a scientist tracking global population trends, she faces an impossible question: can humanity find peace when resources grow scarce and billions more people crowd the planet each decade? Chen's research into sustainable technologies puts her at odds with corporate interests, while her faith demands she seek justice for the displaced and hungry. When her own community splits over how to respond to climate refugees, Chen must choose between the safety of silence and the risks of action. Her struggle reveals whether ancient principles of peace can survive in a world transformed by technology and overwhelmed by human need.
Genres: fiction, political-science, contemporary, environment, 21st-century, global-warming, climate-change, activism
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: faith-vs-science, moral-dilemma, social-commentary
144 pages · Hardcover · Canongate Books