The End We Start From - Naomi Alderman

This short book by. Megan Hunter was a joy to read, so much so that several of the group read it twice. The language was spare, carefully crafted and poetic. You were swept along by the story, but also had to concentrate as important plot actions took place out of sight.

There was debate as to whether it was a book about environmental change (the flood is the catalyst of change) or war, but either way it explored the experience of being a refugee. Arguably the changing climate is already driving change in land use, migration and conflict so this point may be invalid.

The book explored relationships with family and friends, and the vital support they provide. Motherhood played a huge role in the viewpoint of the protagonist, sheltering her from the worst elements by focusing her attention on her newborn to the exclusion of events witnessed by her partner. We only knew the characters by their first initial, removing class, time and background. The lack of precision gave us room to interpret and infer, which of course also allowed for different understandings of the same book, and hence a really interesting conversation.

A highly recommended read - and we wait with interest to see the film and the film maker's interpretation.

Elizabeth Eveleigh