Set in a future imagining of Britain that is scarily believable, the latest novel from Man Booker Prize-shortlisted author Clare Morrall is a literary thriller that forces readers to consider questions of family and survival.

Twenty years ago, a deadly virus spread across Britain, decimating the population and rendering many of the survivors infertile. The Polanski family are lucky. They all have a natural immunity which means they can reproduce, though as our 22-year-old narrator Roza explains, it can be hard to appreciate that luck ‘in the face of the encroaching dust, in the endless, unpopulated space’. Out of a desire for independence, Roza’s parents have kept their family separated from Brighton where a central hub of survivors exists. Though digital communication is a staple in their lives, Roza and her siblings have never actually met others their age in person. Children, we soon learn, are a rare commodity. When a stranger appears in the Polanski’s home he brutally shakes the foundations of their lives and their sheltered existence.

With When the Floods Came, Morrall joins a growing list of authors who are treating climate change as urgent and fecund ground for fiction – consider the recent publications of James Bradley’s Clade and Mireille Juchau’s The World Without Us. The world Morrall depicts is rich and layered, and presents interesting possibilities for how the balance between nature and machinery may evolve with time. The characters rely on advanced technology for their daily life, even though it is clear that a time is coming when they won’t be able to replace necessary parts. The land is prone to violent flooding, and the impact of extreme weather conditions is a stark reality across the world. Roza frequently philosophises on how she may choose to live going forward. As a child she knows she is the future, and it is not a responsibility she takes lightly.

Bronte Coates