She is a compulsive brandy drinker, and spends a majority of her time doing just that. Moira Anderson, whom Dwight meets through Peter and Mary, eventually shares this same view, and pretends that Dwight's family is also still alive. It's both heartbreaking and endearing, and immensely interesting. He's an extremely logical, astute man, but prefers to pretend that the entire world has not been destroyed, and that his wife and daughter in American are still alive and anxiously awaiting his return. Dwight is a very engaging character, and I really enjoyed his personality. Mary, however, finds this morbid and horrifying - understandably so.ĭwight Towers is a commander of the last American submarine and has basically attached his vessel to the Australian Navy. Peter is much more practical, and realizes that they are likely going to want to take some pills that will allow them to die without suffering too much from the radiation. She is always asking Peter if their is any way to avoid the radiation, and doesn't seem to grasp the fact that everyone is going to get sick no matter what. Mary, for one, is extremely passive, and prefers to live in denial about the radiation. Peter and Mary are a lovely young couple with a baby, Jennifer, who attempt to go on leading their regular lives. The book focuses on the four main characters of Peter Holmes, Mary Holmes, Dwight Towers, and Moira Davidson. Some embrace it and are able to freely talk about it, while others are in strong denial and refuse to acknowledge their impending doom.
What's interesting is how these people handle the information. We know how this book ends just by reading the back cover. The inhabitants of this area are aware that the cloud of radiation will reach them in a matter of months, - or sooner - and are basically just sitting around living their lives, waiting for their death.
After a severe World War III with vast amounts of nuclear warfare, the entire world is basically destroyed, and all that is left is a portion of southern Australia. This is one of those books that's not so much about the story and its plot as it is an analysis and curious look at how people handle an impending and inevitable apocalypse.
Paperback.įirst, I am aware that I'm about 50 years late in reading and reviewing this book, but I just picked it up Saturday and finished it the next day, and it was oddly extremely interesting and I really think I liked it.
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