This was the last major novel from the highly esteemed children's author, written a couple of years before her death in 2006. And it really is extraordinary.
In a 2255 of raised sea levels, the British mainland has become the partially flooded Rhine Delta Islands, Europe is the United States of Europe, and the USA appears to have disintegrated. There's been an Anarchy too. Europe is powered by wind and tidal energy, and Europeans are homogenous, long-living individuals in vast tower blocks, never suffering, never getting ill. They all look pretty much the same, too, unlike "the Inglish," aka "Oysters," who live on a designated fenland Aboriginal Reserve and who practice such bizarre behaviour as burying their dead, cooking their own food, eating meat and socialising inside large houses.
Meanwhile, the main characters, all of whom are university archaeologists, are frowned upon, avoided, and even have to suffer protests because of their chosen profession. This is because archaeology emphasises racial and geographical origins, now deemed too shameful and controversial for decent Euro society.
So, when a storm reveals a buried skeleton which might be on Parizo Corporation land or might be on the Briease Reserve, the scene is set for a massive sociological bust-up. The two main characters, Merrick Korda (graduate assistant) and Remy Turcat (uni lecturer & boss), have to negotiate a minefield of social obligations, legal objections, protests, and even a pretty unexpected murder attempt.
Given that this novel was written well over a decade before Brexit, the political context here is to say the least prescient. We Inglish, with our nationalism, jingoism even, and our former empire; and our loathing of Europe, of course. It's all here, twelve years or more before Brexit: remarkable.
And why are the Inglish called Oysters? Well, you see, there are these extremely valuable things called moss pearls...
This was billed as a YA book when it was first published, but you'd have to be a pretty clued-up YA to get even half the plot and references. It comes across as an adult novel, and an extremely unusual one at that. Dense, clever, thought-provoking, memorable, it speaks of nationalism and identity, of history and culture. In the context of the British Empire, it places the rump of the 2255 Brits into that position occupied by their nineteenth century victims. Europe is now the dominant force, mocking - behind their backs - the unhealthy, dirty, pock-marked Inglish and their funny ways. A brilliant reversal. There's so much more here though: riffs on identity, university and academic internal politics, genetics, etc.
Anyone who remembers the fuss when archaeologists unearthed that ancient tree trunk ("Seahenge") from the East Anglian shoreline will want to read this remarkable book. There's a lot here about the respective needs of Aboriginal populations and science. Who gets the rights to the skeleton of Parizo Man? Who owns it? The archaeologists want to study it and the Inglish want to bury it...
It's not perfect. The ending is rushed and a bit disappointing. The writing of dialogue is poor, with far too few speech identifiers. But if you want something unique, unforgettable, clever, thought-provoking and eminently readable, this is the novel for you. Highly recommended, especially if you're an archaeologist.
In a 2255 of raised sea levels, the British mainland has become the partially flooded Rhine Delta Islands, Europe is the United States of Europe, and the USA appears to have disintegrated. There's been an Anarchy too. Europe is powered by wind and tidal energy, and Europeans are homogenous, long-living individuals in vast tower blocks, never suffering, never getting ill. They all look pretty much the same, too, unlike "the Inglish," aka "Oysters," who live on a designated fenland Aboriginal Reserve and who practice such bizarre behaviour as burying their dead, cooking their own food, eating meat and socialising inside large houses.
Meanwhile, the main characters, all of whom are university archaeologists, are frowned upon, avoided, and even have to suffer protests because of their chosen profession. This is because archaeology emphasises racial and geographical origins, now deemed too shameful and controversial for decent Euro society.
So, when a storm reveals a buried skeleton which might be on Parizo Corporation land or might be on the Briease Reserve, the scene is set for a massive sociological bust-up. The two main characters, Merrick Korda (graduate assistant) and Remy Turcat (uni lecturer & boss), have to negotiate a minefield of social obligations, legal objections, protests, and even a pretty unexpected murder attempt.
Given that this novel was written well over a decade before Brexit, the political context here is to say the least prescient. We Inglish, with our nationalism, jingoism even, and our former empire; and our loathing of Europe, of course. It's all here, twelve years or more before Brexit: remarkable.
And why are the Inglish called Oysters? Well, you see, there are these extremely valuable things called moss pearls...
This was billed as a YA book when it was first published, but you'd have to be a pretty clued-up YA to get even half the plot and references. It comes across as an adult novel, and an extremely unusual one at that. Dense, clever, thought-provoking, memorable, it speaks of nationalism and identity, of history and culture. In the context of the British Empire, it places the rump of the 2255 Brits into that position occupied by their nineteenth century victims. Europe is now the dominant force, mocking - behind their backs - the unhealthy, dirty, pock-marked Inglish and their funny ways. A brilliant reversal. There's so much more here though: riffs on identity, university and academic internal politics, genetics, etc.
Anyone who remembers the fuss when archaeologists unearthed that ancient tree trunk ("Seahenge") from the East Anglian shoreline will want to read this remarkable book. There's a lot here about the respective needs of Aboriginal populations and science. Who gets the rights to the skeleton of Parizo Man? Who owns it? The archaeologists want to study it and the Inglish want to bury it...
It's not perfect. The ending is rushed and a bit disappointing. The writing of dialogue is poor, with far too few speech identifiers. But if you want something unique, unforgettable, clever, thought-provoking and eminently readable, this is the novel for you. Highly recommended, especially if you're an archaeologist.
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