Fiction Review: After the Flood

I listened to another Big Book on audio this month, After the Flood by Kassandra Montag, a post-apocalyptic novel with a unique premise that kept me riveted.

 

It takes place more than a hundred years from now, when rising sea levels have not only covered the coasts but also the interior heartland of North America. All that's left are individual colonies on the tops of mountains, surrounded by vast oceans. Myra and her seven-year-old daughter, Pearl, live on the water on a boat. Myra's grandfather taught her to fish (and built the boat), so they trade their catches for other necessities but are barely scraping by. Seven years ago, as the flood waters neared their home in Kansas, Myra's husband kidnapped their older daughter, Row, and Myra has been unable to find them. But now, during a resupply stop, she finally gets a lead as to Row's whereabouts, in an area near the Arctic Circle, and is determined to go find her long-lost daughter. They meet a group of people in a larger boat, but can they trust them? This is a dangerous world they live in (apocalypses never seem to bring out the good in people, do they?), filled with pirates and other perils.

 

The novel was gripping and suspenseful from the very first chapter. I liked Myra and especially Pearl, as well as some of the other characters (there are still some good people left in this world!), and I could relate to Myra’s desperation to find Row. It’s a fast-paced story, with almost non-stop action, as they and their new companions make the treacherous journey north. It is dark at times, but hope is woven throughout and is a major theme. In fact, I liked this quote so much that I paused my audio to write it down:

 

“Hope would never come knocking on your door. You had to claw your way toward it, rip it out of the cracks of your loss, where it poked out like some weed, and cling to it.”

 

I think that one sentence expresses both the darkness and the theme of hope in the novel. It was very compelling and kept me interested from start to finish, with an excellent audio production.

432 pages, Harper Collins

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

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Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

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Or you can order After the Flood from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.