Floodland

A new addition to the recent spate of children's novels set in dystopian future worlds, Floodland is located in a Norwich which is now cut off from the mainland, surrounded by the sea which has flooded and reclaimed the land after global warming. Faced with rising waters and a dwindling supply of food, Zoe is also desperate to be reunited with her parents from whom she was separated in a scramble for places on the last ship to take members of the marooned population to safety on the mainland. The discovery of a rowing boat affords her an escape route but, reaching another island, she falls into the hands of a wild band of children who jealously guard their territory and have been known to kill intruders.

For Zoe, growing up in a society where resources were dwindling, 'other people generally meant trouble'. The Lord of the Flies set-up she pitches up in confirms her worst expectations yet the old man, William, with his strange tales, seems to believe that there is more to living than surviving. Alongside the many betrayals in this novel as people are abandoned to the rising waters there is a recognition that something has been taken away for such inhumanity to flourish. This element of the novel could perhaps have been explored more but Sedgwick has created an engrossing drama with a strong, if watery, sense of place.