The Year of the Flood
 First edition cover (UK) | |
| Author | Margaret Atwood |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Speculative fiction, Novel |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury (UK) |
Publication date | September 2009 (first edition, hardcover) |
| Publication place | Canada |
| Pages | 448 pp (first edition, hardcover) |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-0-7475-8516-9 (first edition, hardcover) Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
| OCLC | 373481031 |
| Preceded by | Oryx and Crake |
The Year of the Flood is a novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, released on September 22, 2009 in Canada and the United States, and September 7, 2009, in the United Kingdom.[1] The novel was mentioned in numerous newspaper review articles looking forward to notable fiction of 2009.[2][3]
The book focuses on a group called God's Gardeners, a small community of survivors of the same biological catastrophe depicted in Atwood's earlier novel Oryx and Crake. The earlier novel contained several brief references to the group.
It answers some of the questions of Oryx and Crake and reveals the identity of the three real human figures who appear at the end of the earlier book.
Main characters
- Ren, a trapeze dancer who works at the sex club Scales and Tails, who survives the plague by being isolated in the club's biohazard containment chamber. She previously dated Jimmy (Snowman) in school.
- Toby, a God's Gardener who goes into hiding to escape a dangerous stalker, by working in a high-end spa.
Promotion
Atwood's tour to promote the book included choral performances of 14 religious hymns that appear in the book.[4]
Naming rights
For both Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood, Atwood donated naming rights to characters in the novel to charity auctions. One of the winning bidders was journalist Rebecca Eckler, who paid $7,000 at a benefit for the magazine The Walrus.[5]
Reception
The novel was generally well-received; reviewers noted that while the plot was sometimes chaotic,[6] the novel's imperfections meshed well with the flawed reality the book was trying to reflect.[7] The Daily Telegraph commented that "Margaret Atwood is genuinely inventive, rather than merely clever".[6]
In 2010, the novel was longlisted as a candidate for the 2011 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award,[8] and shortlisted for the 2010 Trillium Book Award.
References
- ^ "The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood". FantasticFiction. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
- ^
Pellegrino, Nicky (2009-01-09). "Books to watch for in 2009". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Healy, Madeline. "Smorgasbord of titles awaits readers in 2009". The Courier-Mail. Queensland Newspapers. Retrieved 2009-08-08. [dead link]
- ^ Heather Mallick, "Here comes the flood". cbc.ca, September 27, 2009.
- ^ Rebecca Eckler, "Margaret Atwood didn’t kill me". Maclean's, September 23, 2009.
- ^ a b Moore, Caroline (2009-09-10). "The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood: review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Winterson, Jeanette (2009-09-17). "Strange New World". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
- ^ "A week of literary awards". Edmonton Journal. 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help)
External links
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