by Kate Wilhelm
First published 1981
Jean Brighton watches her world crumble as environmental devastation sweeps across America. The forests are dying, the climate has shifted beyond recognition, and society teeters on the edge of breakdown. As a scientist, Jean understands the biological mechanisms behind the collapse better than most. As a human being, she struggles to find meaning when everything she once trusted has failed. She must navigate a landscape where both nature and civilization are unraveling. The government offers false promises while communities fracture under pressure. Jean searches for a way forward through the ruins of the old world. Her journey becomes one of survival and adaptation in a time when the very foundations of life have shifted. The story explores how individuals respond when faced with irreversible change and the end of familiar ways of living.
Genres: fiction, science-fiction, 21st-century, environmental-science, climate-change, apocalyptic
Vibes: emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: adaptation, survival
Setting: America
Period: Present Day
282 pages · Kindle Edition · Gateway