The Stranding – Kate Sawyer

I love novels which start with a bang, throwing you headlong into the story and daring you to catch up. Iain Banks’ literal explosion with the first line of “The Crow Road” being ‘It was the day my grandmother exploded’, Donna Tartt’s engrossing “The Goldfinch” with the explosion at the art gallery, or the ‘Call me Ishmael’ brusque opener from “Moby Dick”. 

“The Stranding” does that, as we crash into Ruth, running to save a beached whale. She runs with a backpack on, in what could be Australia or New Zealand, desperate and sunburnt. The unfolding of the story from there is beautiful to behold, delicately handled and completely engrossing. 

We know fairly early on that there has been, or is, some kind of climate disaster.  It made me think of Leave The World Behind as Ruth meets Nic, who scoffs at her attempts to save the whale, under the shadow of apocalypse. 

Climate change novels seem to be more and more popular, or I’m just reading more of them. Ali Smith’s seasonal quartet but perhaps most of all Summer and Bewilderment by Richard Powers. Ever since I was small, we’ve been talking about other power sources than coal and oil, but nothing really seems to have been done beyond discussion. As we see Germany flooded, Canada on fire as well as the other parts of the world being dangerously hot, cold, dry or wet, it’s clear that it’s urgent. We need to do something more, our world leaders need to drive the green options as the easy ones. Recycling, rinsing out yogurt pots, fewer flights and mild hybrid cars are not going to save the planet. The top ten companies responsible for 70% of the world’s emissions, need to do something at source. It’s too late once the plastic has been made or the oil pumped out of the ground. 

There are parallel running stories in this, as we are told more about how Ruth got to where we find her in the beginning and at the same time, the adjustments she’s making in the aftermath of whatever she is going through in the present day. This telescoping forwards and backwards of time is a joy to read, as the puzzle pieces are carefully curated and placed at exactly the right time to reveal the whole picture. One of my bugbears is novels where there is a BIG THING that is revealed at the end and is consequently a massive disappointment. (God of Small Things, I’m looking at you).

The characters are well filled in and human, not always likeable but understandable and relatable. Ruth and Nic’s burgeoning companionship forms part of the foundation for this, when they disagree with each other and you as the reader can appreciate both points of view. It makes for interesting reading, I think, when there are no real villains or heroes – just normal people doing everyday things, one step removed from our own lives. 

Ultimately this is a cautionary tale, an imagining of what is around the corner for us if we don’t sort out the damage we are all doing to the world we live in. This is part of the reason I think the story struck a chord with me – the best stories are the ones you pick up in every spare minute, over breakfast and at lunch and before you go to bed. It sits on your chest and keeps you company while you’re not reading, as you wonder what Ruth’s up to and how her parents are. It’s why it feels like such a loss when you finish a book, as you feel like you’re going to miss friends you’ve just met. 

I don’t know if Kate Sawyer is going to write a sequel, a continuation or anything but I do hope she does. I’m pleased that this novel has been revealed as the category winner in the Fiction group for the East Anglian Book Awards!The winners will be talking about their books in a bit more detail, on November 25th. Online tickets are available for free if you’d like to see it live – there are a few different categories and great books in all of them. 

Thanks as always to Netgalley and to Hodder & Stoughton for the DRC, this book is available to buy now!