Book Description Review “If we somehow manage to save the planet from ourselves, it will be because of big-hearted beautiful books like this one, that make us feel the devastating cost of our current climate inaction. Not just the planet-wide consequences, but the human-scale ones as well. Gripping and powerful.” (Sam J. Miller, Nebula Award Winning author of Blackfish City )“Lyrical, atmospheric, and eerily prescient, The End of the Ocean is my favorite kind of speculative fiction. Lunde expertly weaves together both a warning and a gorgeous literary work of love and survival that will leave you wishing for rain.” (Christina Dalcher, national bestselling author of Vox )“Imagine The Leftovers, but with honey.” (Elle on The History of Bees)“Without ever banging an apocalyptic drum, Lunde paints an achingly pure picture of what happens if we fail to protect the bees, our biospheric conscience, our fragile, sacred spinners of gold.” (Jacquelyn Mitchard, New York Times bestselling author, on The History of Bees)“As a lover of honeybees and a fan of speculative fiction, I was doubly smitten by The History of Bees. Maja Lunde’s novel is an urgent reminder of how much our survival depends on those remarkable insects. It is also a gripping account of how—despite the cruelest losses—humanity may abide and individual families can heal.” (Jean Hegland, author of Still Time and Into the Forest, on The History of Bees)“By turns devastating and hopeful, The History of Bees resonates powerfully with our most pressing environmental concerns. Following three separate but interconnected timelines, Lunde shows us the past, the present, and a terrifying future in a riveting story as complex as a honeycomb.” (Bryn Greenwood, New York Times bestselling author, on The History of Bees)“Two stories on the impact of climate change intersect in this thoughtful and suspenseful novel… Both halves of the story are convincingly detailed and quietly wrenching, and Lunde gradually and subtly draws them together to powerful effect.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred review))“ As the water crisis gets worse, the desperation echoes the extremities of Emily St. John Mandel’s postapocalyptic Station Eleven (2014). In a gripping narrative, Lunde portrays the profit-motivated decisions that created and are now exacerbating David’s horrific existence. This is another brilliant call to arms from a vital contemporary novelist.” (ALA Booklist) Read more About the Author Maja Lunde is a Norwegian author and screenwriter. Lunde has written five books for children and young adults. She has also written scripts for Norwegian television, including for the children’s series Barnas supershow (“The Children’s Super Show”), the drama series Hjem(“Home”) and the comedy series Side om Side (“Side by Side”). THE HISTORY OF BEES was her first novel for adults. She lives with her husband and three children in Oslo. Read more Customers Review: I was drawn in by the cover and recommendation from io9 as a must read. This book is about what happens when climate change devastates our planet but it doesn’t hit you over the head with the premise. It’s just as much about a father and daughter who are fighting for their survival and a woman who is on a mission to save the environment. I got sucked into the personal relationships and vivid description of what was happening in the future story line, which seems all too relevant with what’s happening in Australia right now.
The End of the Ocean has two narrators, Signe, in 2017, and David (with his little daughter, Lou), in 2041. The location of the story is Norway, the ocean, and drought stricken Europe. In 2041, wars are waging, people are dying due to lack of water, refugee camps are overflowing and then falling apart, as they can’t keep up with the influx of refugees.Seventy year old Signe, is crusty, angry, fueled by that anger, and has one more point to make, one more point to drive home, about the damage being done to her homeland. Thank goodness we get to meet Signe as a very young girl because otherwise I would never have been able to stand the older Signe or come close to understanding her. Little Signe became an environmentalist at a very young age, through the teachings of her father, and she never stopped fighting to save the world.Twenty five year old David and his six year old daughter, Lou, are finding refuge in a refugee camp where his wife Anna had been wanting to take their family. David and Lou were separated from Anna and their one year old son, August, and now David and Lou are half a family, looking for Anna and August, but really not expecting to find them. David is another unlikable narrator for me because he seems so immature, often neglecting what is best for Lou, introspective to a fault, because he knows what he needs to do and doesn’t do it.Although these three people never meet, they are linked when David and Lou find Signe’s boat and other things. The stories are told alternately, as we see events in Signe’s time that help to bring on the devastation of David and Lou’s time. Little Lou is David’s conscience when he so desperately needs one and as with young Signe, Lou is a big part of what makes this story mean all the more to me. It hurts to read how much the children need from their parents and don’t get, not material things, but instead feelings of attentiveness and safety that often go unmet. And then there is the lack of freshwater, for water is the heart of this book.Thank you to HarperVia and BookishFirst for this ARC.
The End of the Ocean takes place in two different time periods, 2017 and 2041. It is told through two stories that are woven together. The 2017 storyline follows 67-year old Signe first in Norway as she travels south to France in her small sailboat, Blue. We learn that she is an activist, just as her father was and is distraught when she learns that the ancient glaciers of her home are being mined to be shipped to the Middle East as “pure ice” for the wealthy. As an attempt to show her defiance and anger towards the destruction, she empties most of the mined ice back into the ocean and plans to deliver the rest to France. As she travels, we learn through her memories who signed off on the ice mining deal, why he is important to Signe’s life, and her childhood impressions of the world. The second storyline follows David and Lou during a massive drought in 2041. They live in South France and are fleeing the fires and desert looking for more water and a better climate. We learn that they were part of a family of four; Anna and August were supposed to meet them at the refugee camp set up near Timbaut, France. Eventually out of boredom and as a way to relieve the stress of camp life, David and Lou explore nearby houses and come upon a boat stored behind a house. It isn’t in the best of shape, but Lou and David commandeer it as their play place and later it becomes the center of their plans for getting out of the drought-stricken area.I don’t want to get too much away about this story and how these two plotlines connect because “the reveal” so good when reading it. I had some inkling as I was reading, but it wasn’t until I actually read the connecting chapter and linked all the dots did I really understand what was going on. I have to say, I love this book so much and really did enjoy the pacing and how it was told through alternating chapters. This seems to help keep the story going and makes you want to keep reading to see what happens. At first, I was not too fond of Signe’s chapters just because they felt a bit flat for me and I am not one for boats or sailing. David’s chapters about survival and the hardships of being a refugee were more interesting for me. There did come a point however when Signe’s chapters gained my attention and I found David’s character to be one that I was not too fond of. I enjoyed how this story kept me on the my toes and made me re-evaluate characters, what a character flaw is, and the idea that not everyone is perfect. In the end, this story speaks to what it is to be human and keep surviving even past what you think possible. This story is also rich with a discussion on climate change and environmental activism. I have never read a book that was able to use these two themes are major devices to both keep the story going and to help make a much larger point. Even though we are going through huge climate issues and the idea of climate change as fact is being actively challenged, reading about such things as a viewer rather than someone currently in it, really opens up the viewing platform and creates a space to think about what it would be like if it didn’t rain or how would humanity survive. I am so glad to have read this book and had those deep thoughts of survival and how much humans have hurt and are destroying our planet.I didn’t know this when I started this book, but it is part of a series! I don’t think it is a connected series that continues book-to-book but rather is loosely connected via broader themes and ideas. I definitely want to read the first book in this series, The History of Bees and read more in Lunde’s creative world. As for this book specifically, the writing was superb. Next to the heart-wrenching and hopeful story and the larger comments on climate change and environmentalism, the writing in this book is so beautiful and poetic. Lunde knows how to capture the rocking movement of the ocean in Signe’s storyline and the dry, dusty heat in David’s storyline. I was so impressed with how flawlessly she can convert between the two. I also loved how the book chapters are set up. They do alternate storylines, but more specifically I enjoyed how they would bookend each other and some actions or things would be mirrored. For example, at the end of one chapter Signe is showering and enjoying all the senses that go with cleansing after not being clean for days. The next chapter begins with David and Lou also getting to experience showering, but it is dramatically different from Signe’s experience. Those two are juxtaposed which enhances the storyline and setting of each individual plot. This sort of mirroring device is used multiple times, perfectly throughout this book and really deepens the feelings and sensations while reading.Overall, I absolutely love this book. When I started reading it was a bit difficult because it begins with Signe’s chapter and the writing is very abstract and poetic there. Once I was accustomed to the writing style and was a few chapters in, I warmed up so quickly and ended up not wanting to put this book down. There is so much buried and woven in this story; I wish it were required reading just because it has so much to say about now and the future, as well as what it means to be a human and be happy. I am so glad to have read this book and can’t wait to see what else Lunde writes! |
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