A Chicago Tribune Best Book of the YearAn inventive and riveting epic saga, After the Flood signals the arrival of an extraordinary new talent. A little more than a century from now, our world has been utterly transformed. After years of slowly overtaking the continent, rising floodwaters have obliterated America’s great coastal cities and then its heartland, leaving nothing but an archipelago of … great coastal cities and then its heartland, leaving nothing but an archipelago of mountaintop colonies surrounded by a deep expanse of open water.
Stubbornly independent Myra and her precocious seven-year-old daughter, Pearl, fish from their small boat, the Bird, visiting dry land only to trade for supplies and information in the few remaining outposts of civilization. For seven years, Myra has grieved the loss of her oldest daughter, Row, who was stolen by her father after a monstrous deluge overtook their home in Nebraska. Then, in a violent confrontation with a stranger, Myra suddenly discovers that Row was last seen in a far-off encampment near the Arctic Circle. Throwing aside her usual caution, Myra and Pearl embark on a perilous voyage into the icy northern seas, hoping against hope that Row will still be there.
On their journey, Myra and Pearl join forces with a larger ship and Myra finds herself bonding with her fellow seekers who hope to build a safe haven together in this dangerous new world. But secrets, lust, and betrayals threaten their dream, and after their fortunes take a shocking—and bloody—turn, Myra can no longer ignore the question of whether saving Row is worth endangering Pearl and her fellow travelers.
A compulsively readable novel of dark despair and soaring hope, After the Flood is a magnificent, action packed, and sometimes frightening odyssey laced with wonder—an affecting and wholly original saga both redemptive and astonishing.
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A soaring, brilliantly imagined novel about love and desperation, set in an astonishing new world that still feels utterly gripping and contemporary. Kassandra Montag is a visionary new talent!
This is an odyssey story set in a post-apocalyptic world. Myra is a strong female protagonist in a first-person point of view. The new world is covered in water with very little land and resources left. Myra goes in search of her lost daughter while trying to protect the one in her control. This story has plenty of conflict with Man/woman vs. The nature and Man/Woman vs. Man/woman. Another layer of conflict is a microcosm of societal issues. There is a smattering of romance, and tasteful sex. This book is a solid four stars. I’d give it a five if the story moved along a little faster. Sometimes the introspective of the character overburdened the prose/story in a minor attempt to be something it’s not.
The writing craft is strong, and I was engaged with every page. Can’t ask for more than that.
I will definitely purchase the author’s next book.
David Putnam author of The Bruno Johnson series
In Montag’s thrilling debut, a woman reluctantly joins forces with the crew of a ship large enough to ferry her toward the one thing she wants. As in the very best adventure novels, Myra and the crew of the Sedna are beset by troubles, both those they stumble across and more pressingly, those of their own making. If the center of this novel is one mother’s quest to recover the daughter stolen from her, the heart of it is the truth that, as unrecognizable as the world may become, what is most human in us — our loves, our fears, our strengths, and our failings — can be neither drowned nor outrun.
After The Flood by @kassandra.montag
It is one of my favorite genres that I seem to find so interesting and that is the dystopian era.
This story takes place a little over a 100 years from now in 2130. Due to the 100 year flood and massive other flooding, there is barely any land except a few mountaintops that exist. Everyone lives on boats or ships. Drinking water and food is hard to come by and the world as we knew it is no longer evident. What has been salvaged or made; is now bartered for goods or basic necessities just to survive.
Myra now alone, abandoned by her husband who also took off with their only child while she was pregnant, must now fend for herself and her new baby after the only person she had left passes away. She struggles to stay alive and provide and raise her little girl, never forgetting the daughter that was stolen from her.
Along the way, there are many lessons learned, hard work exchanged in order to keep their needs met and some wonderful and not so wonderful people they meet along the way.
While I enjoyed the book, I did have to question myself if I would make some of the same decisions that Myra had. Morally I don’t know if I could have done it. Chasing after her older daughter seems to be on the forefront of everything she wants and is willing to risk everything to get her; even her younger daughter and the lives of people that are providing her help. That’s when it was difficult for me to read. I guess because things are much more difficult to accomplish on water as they would have been on land, makes me impatient and unwilling as Myra is willing.
It is a great book with a bunch of mystery and terror as well. If you want a realistic dystopian novel. This would be a good pick.
After the Flood is based on a dystopian world that was created after the world has become flooded. Leaving survivors to either take to what remains on the high grounds or take to the seas to survive.
At the beginning of the story you meet Myra, a pregnant wife whose husband abandons her and her unborn child, fleeing the floods with their first born child Row. The story follows Myra and her now 7 year old, Pearl, as they search the seas for Row. The new world has groups trying to lay claim to the remaining lands and resources. One prime resource are young girls who can breed new colonies. Row is approaching an age where if caught, could be placed on one of those breeding ships for the reminder of her years. Myra is desperate to find her daughter and save her from this fate.
The story will have your emotions churning much like the tides of the oceans the characters sail! A story of loss, gain, bonds made and bonds that are broken.
I had won this ARC copy of After the Flood thru a sweepstakes thanks to Kassandra Montag and HarperCollins!
The atmosphere in this book was incredible. Although there were some sections toward the end I found less interesting, overall I highly recommend this read.
This is a tough one. The book was beautifully written, the story compelling, and the themes haunting. These are the reasons I loved it, though I imagine it’s not for those looking for a light, non-thought-provoking story. It definitely is not. It’s brutal and heartbreaking over and over again, and yet the beauty within all that is more gorgeous because of it.
Sometimes the going was a little slow, but–like the beauty within the horror–when the pace quickens, it flies.
Highly recommended, but not for the faint of heart.
This review is also available on my blog: Wine Cellar Library
After the Flood was Libraries Transform’s #ltbookpick in October. I love the idea of fostering a collective discussion on social media about a book! I hope there will be many more to come!
After the Flood is a post-apocalyptic dystopian novel about a mother’s relentless determination to find her missing daughter. While Myra was still pregnant with her youngest daughter, Pearl, her husband whisked away their five-year-old daughter Row, and due to the flood waters, Myra was unable to reach him in time to stop him. Now that most of the world is covered by water, Myra and Pearl travel from port to port selling the fish they catch on the boat Myra’s grandfather built. When she has finally given up hope, she discovers that Row is living in a colony in Greenland. The problem is, girls like Row are enslaved on Breeder ships at the age of 13, and Myra is determined to reach her before that happens.
Myra will capitalize on every opportunity to reach her daughter in Greenland, no matter the cost. On the one hand, this is a redeemable and admirable trait. On the other, she is risking the life of Pearl and countless others in her quest. And the worst part is, Pearl is completely aware of it. Pearl feels that she has lived her life in the shadow of her sister and often does things just to get her mother’s attention. Dangerous things, that lead to unsavory consequences.
Now is this an unrealistic plot point? I don’t think so. I could easily see any mother throwing caution to the wind to save one of her cubs, believing in a false sense of security surrounding the cub she has with her. It’s heartbreaking to read, but relatable, too.
The story moved forward at a good pace, and though it was well written, it did not evoke much emotion. I did not feel connected to Myra whatsoever. I was frustrated with her poor choices (such as sleeping with a man to sway him into doing her bidding, despite someone else being obviously highly invested in her…oh the sexual tension there…). But at the same time, I can’t blame her, because she will fight tooth and nail to get what she wants, no matter who is standing in her way.
Upon further reflection while writing this review, I have changed my rating from 3 to 4 stars. This book is haunting and raw, and there is so much to consider. If you were living in her situation, could you–would you–do it better?
The searing, often brutal story of a mother’s terrifying quest to find her missing daughter in a post-apocalyptic world. Haunting and shocking.
Spellbinding and aching at every turn, After the Flood is an evocative tale of despair and fierce hope existing within a shattered future. Kassandra Montag weaves together a watery, post-apocalyptic world that will leave readers breathless.
I read this one without quite knowing what to expect. Set 100 years in the future, some catastrophic floods, and most of the world is covered with water, with survivors on the few land areas or living on the water. Society has had to realign and find a new direction. In this world, we are introduced to Myra and her young daughter, Pearl who was born after the last major flood and has never known anything but the world as it is. Myra is trying to keep both of them alive, and hopefully find her older daughter, Row, whom her husband took seven years ago when their home in the plains of Nebraska was inundated with water. As she is ready to give up, she encounters someone with information, and it sparks a renewed fervor to reach Row before she is lost to her forever. As Myra and Pearl embark on their final quest to find Row, they become involved with others but what and who will Myra sacrifice to find the child she lost.
This story was intense and scary to me. It could be a glimpse into the future of humanity and how we could react to a world-changing event like this. I started this and couldn’t put it down. The author creates a world that is detailed and frightening in its possibilities. I look forward to seeing what direction Montag will take with her second novel.
#AftertheFlood #WilliamMorrow #KassandraMontag
“From the water we came and to the water we will return, our lungs always hungering for air, but our hearts beating like waves.”
It’s about a century in the future and global warming has hit with a vengeance. Water covers most of the Earth, with mountaintops and islands scattered across the vast oceans.
Pregnant Myra was deserted in rural Nebraska before it totally was underwater by her husband, who took their oldest daughter, Row, with him.
Myra’s grandfather builds a seaworthy small boat and he and Myra take to the water fishing and trading. Baby Pearl is born on the boat.
So now it’s seven years in the future and Myra still longs for daughter Row and her and Pearl end up joining other people for a multitude of reasons.
I loved this post-apocalyptic book. Great characters, both good and bad, and a well-told cohesive tale bring this frightening tale to life. It’s a tale of loss, grieving and hope.
I received this book from William Morrow Books through Edelweiss in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
“I am not the shards of a broken glass, but the water let loose from it. The uncontainable thing that will not shatter and stay broken.”
I loved Kassandra Montag’s debut novel. While it is another book about surviving in a post-apocalyptic world it went so much deeper than that. It’s about clinging to the smallest bit of hope you can find in the most desolate of times and not letting go. It’s about love, loss, grief and the ever present question is there such a thing as salvation and if so, how do we
find it?
It’s 2130 and climate change has caused the world to flood, turning it into one big ocean, with only small dots of land left. Some people are surviving by bartering for food and meager supplies in the small villages that are left. Others have taken advantage of the chaos and destruction and turned into raiders. Basically, pirates/Vikings who come and raid villages, killing anyone who gets in their way and taking the rest for slaves.
Myra, our heroine, has one goal: getting her daughter back. Seven years ago, her husband, Jacob, grabbed their 5 year old daughter, Row, and left a heavily pregnant Myra behind. Now, Myra and her second daughter, Pearl, have been sailing around the world searching and finally have a lead on where to find Row. Myra is a momma bear whose struggling to balance keeping the daughter she has left safe, while not giving up on finding the daughter who was stolen from her. There are points in the story where Myra isn’t all that likable and yet these points just make her more human and in the end added to my respect for her.
This was a beautifully written novel that brought tears to my eyes multiple times. I couldn’t put it down and while the ending was a bit predictable, I loved it all the same. Kassandra Montag’s writing is as entrancing as the ocean’s waves that fill the pages of her book. I look forward to reading more from her! I won this book in a giveaway.