The Year of the Flood

This one’s actually the middle book of Attwood’s Maddaddam trilogy, which deals with the results of “the waterless flood,” a viral pandemic which has wiped out most of civilisation.

The Year of the Flood focuses on the lower classes, which again interests me in terms of the effect on “ordinary” people. There’s a dystopian element here, as Attwood explores the religious sect in which the protagonists find themselves.

A novel that takes place following the extinction of most of the human species during a viral pandemic.

I decided to start reading this in March 2020, during the first lockdown. It was oddly soothing. It can’t get as bad as this, surely? Sinister corporations, marauding gangs, genetically engineered monsters.... I honestly don’t know anymore.

The second installment in Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy, following the dystopian blockbuster Oryx and Crake, proved to be my favorite. Perhaps that’s because the story largely follows the travails of Toby, a fascinating, multi-faceted woman who’s holed up in an erstwhile luxury spa at the end of the world, musing on her recent past as a member of the hippie religious cult God’s Gardeners. Toby is a brilliant and wry guide through this thoroughly immersive ruined world, and Atwood keeps readers on the edge of their seats as we wait to find out what’s left to salvage for the survivors… show more.