Surplus to Requirements

A cruelty has begun, corrupting communities and taking many lives. In England in 2050, society is set on culling its older, disabled and unwanted citizens. The Old'un, seventy-nine years old, faces a choice. She can take the regime-provided dose and accept she is surplus to requirements or go on the run? If she runs, where to, who can she trust, and what can she take with her?

This is a tale of the enduring power stories have to help us put one foot in front of the other, resist and make new friends in the most desperate of circumstances. It is also the story of the people of the North, saints in all but name, who give their lives for the sake of others and go into exile to safeguard the hope that will one day set the people free.

When the Old'un goes on the run, she peaceably walks out on death, choosing life with every step. Her journey across the north of England is along the Wall and towards the border with Free Scotland. Can kindness ever lurk in places where arbitrary urban and rural violence echoes the State's cruelty? With her companions, she hopes to make it to the island of Iona, a cradle and refuge on the edge of the western isles.