What follows is the story of how they decide to build a life together with what they have available to them; and that is all I’m going to tell you, as I don’t want to spoil it. When Ruth lands in New Zealand ready to escape her city life for a much-needed trip of a lifetime, the world has been tipped upside down and everything she knows has been altered by a mysterious catastrophic event. Stranded with no hope of survival, she climbs into the mouth of a whale. When she emerges, she’ll be forced to build a life she could never have envisaged. And in turn, the reader is made to confront their own ‘What ifs…’ too.

The Stranding by Kate Sawyer | Goodreads

This is a big claim to make for a novel. His point, says Ghosh, is not just about the book itself, but the welcome it received (including being shortlisted for the Booker prize). “It wasn’t hived off into the usual silos of climate change or speculative fiction, but was treated as a mainstream novel. I do think that was a very major thing. Since then, there’s been an outpouring of work in this area. In my own personal inbox, I get two or three manuscripts a day.” A book for fans of Raj’s work: The Bee Keeper of Aleppo by Christie Lefteri, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Kahled Hosseini To receive transcripts and news from Kate to your inbox please SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER or visit https://www.mskatesawyer.com/novelexperiencepodcast for more information. Whereas The Road supplies no “before” (we have only the man, the boy, and the hell through which they walk), The Stranding provides a privileged view into an earlier life, which helps the reader to appreciate the journey Ruth makes from being dependent (upon her parents, her friends, her partner) to learning how to become independent, to becoming dependable for her children. When all regulations have fallen away, she gives them a moral code by which to live; when all others have perished, she gives them a model for humanity. Like so much of The Stranding, it’s perfectly judged and beautifully executed. Sawyer has done something remarkable here; giving us a new exemplar of the post-apocalyptic robinsonade that will surely provide the pattern for many more in the years to come. The author has the ability to define characters so well that you really feel by the end of the story that you know them all and I could recognise my own friends and family members in them

A quiet, piercing contemplation on what really matters when it comes to the end of the world. Strange and beautiful' - Abigail Dean, author of Girl A I don’t think it’s my way to ask much of others, but now I am asking each of you to give me one day where you leave any animosity at the gate and try to remember that you love each other.” Holds the big within the small, the intimate within the epic”– Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies

BBC Radio 4 - The Stranding by Kate Sawyer - Available now BBC Radio 4 - The Stranding by Kate Sawyer - Available now

This Family is set on a sultry September day and features a family gathering together in the garden of their home in Suffolk in the shade of a willow tree to celebrate a special occasion. Mary, the matriarch, is hoping everyone can get along for just this one day. Kate Sawyer has created a dystopia so unerringly familiar that it can make you laugh and shiver simultaneously. Sensual and hopeful, this is a pacey and surprisingly relatable read * Gemma Reeves, author of Victoria Park * In the After, we follow Ruth and Nik as they emerge from whale and build a new life from the literal bones of their old world.Even though they are not blood relatives, Mary has still taken care of her mother in law, more than Irene's own biological children have. She knows Irene on a deeper level than Richard ever will. Much troubled history has kept these four generations apart, and it will take a lot for them to all be together in one place without the loss, heartbreak and betrayal rising to the surface. Mary hopes that the weight of this occasion will be enough to bring about a healing between them all, but some things are very hard to forgive - even among family. Each month I bring you my recommendation of a must-read book. I read a variety of genres so it could be anything from fiction, non-fiction, romance, historical fiction or a thriller and I really hope that you’ll enjoy each of them as much as I do.

The Stranding by Kate Sawyer | Hachette UK

But when Ruth arrives, the news cycle she has been ignoring for so long is now the new reality. Far from home and with no real hope of survival, she finds herself climbing into the mouth of a beached whale alongside a stranger. When she emerges, it is to a landscape that bears no relation to the world they knew before.Queer Moon Rising / The Love of a Good Woman Won’t Save You: Queer Narratives in An American Werewolf in London (1981)