WHEN THE FLOODS CAME

Storms ahead

released 11 February 342 pages | Hardback/ ebook

Author Clare Morrall

Publisher Sceptre

Sci- fi often reflects the worries of its age – invasion, nuclear war, mind control – so the devastating climate change and incurable virus unleashed on the world in this novel are unlikely to surprise anyone who’s read the news lately.

Roza Polanski lives in a high- rise apartment block near Birmingham, in a Britain devastated by uncontrollable, unpredictable weather and a virus that wiped out most of the population. Their ordered, introverted existence will soon change with Roza’s upcoming marriage, but before that happens a stranger, Aashay, arrives with tales of other survivors and a world beyond what they’ve known. But can he be trusted?

Starting slowly and carefully before building to a thrilling conclusion, this is a wonderful examination of the details of life after an apocalypse. There are no zombies or marauding motorcycle gangs, just fragments of society attempting to survive in a world where the weather destroys everything and technology slowly falls apart. With a sparse, detached style and topical discussions of moral uncertainties, state power and censorship, this is an intelligent story to be savoured. Rhian Drinkwater

Clare Morrall fits in her writing around half days as a music teacher, at a prep school in Birmingham.