Lead Review (The Water May Come)
- Book: The Water That May Come
- Location: England
- Author: Amy Lilwall
The Water That May Come by Amy Lilwall, a dystopian adventure set in an England of the near future.
The Water May Come is the story of four disparate characters and how they plan to be safe, as England is about to be overwhelmed by a giant tsunami following a massive eruption in a volcano off the cost of Iceland. The cause of the panic actually does not matter, but how people deal with it does. The four protagonists are Pinko, a decadent aristocrat with the possibility of escape to Scandinavia, Jane who is a veterinary nurse and is romantically entangled with Pinko. Do his escape plans include her? Then there is Jane’s teenage daughter Ashleigh, who is struggling with being pregnant. And finally Gavin, an aspiring artist. Their lives all overlap and intermingle…
The story focusses on all of them as they try and manoeuvre their way through the labyrinth of new measures introduced by the government – for example, no single man can be eligible to catch the boast to France – married couples and families only and eligibility to be proven by a need to demonstrate intimacy in front of a panel… Barricades put up by the countries to which people want to flee. There is, of course, the intentional parallel with the inhabitants of poorer and war torn countries seeking to flee to Europe at the present time. The boot is on the other foot, and makes us think in a different way about current events and the way we treat refugees.
To what ends will people (and, in particular the four protagonists) go to secure a better and safer life? How will their moral values stand up to the pressures?
The Water May Come is a well written, thoughtful and thought provoking book. It disturbs our thinking and makes us wonder how we might react in similar circumstances.
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