This is a new dystopian novel from Retreat West Books.
The Blurb
England, 2073. The UK has been cut off from the rest of the world and ravaged by environmental disasters. Small pockets of survivors live in isolated communities with no electricity, communications or transportation, eating only what they can hunt and grow.
Evie is a herbalist, living in a future that’s more like the past, and she’s fighting for her life. The young people of this post-apocalyptic world have cobbled together a new religion, based on medieval superstitions, and they are convinced she’s a witch. Their leader? Evie’s own grandson.
Weaving between Evie’s futurist world and her activist past, her tumultuous relationships and the terrifying events that led to the demise of civilised life, Remember Tomorrow is a beautifully written, disturbing and deeply moving portrait of an all-too-possible dystopian world, with a chilling warning at its heart.
Now here to whet your appetite is an extract from the book:
Zealot
Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent
My grandson means to kill me. His name is Jonah and he has the glint of the zealot in his eyes. The people here follow him like sheep. Not that there are any sheep anymore, but they used to be known for following where anybody led. I should have known that the new way of life we’d created and the happy, peaceful times wouldn’t last. All you need to do is look at the history books to know they never do. Even here in our tiny, isolated community hanging on a cliff side facing the sea, the evil that men do is coming back to haunt us again. We’ve ended up living in a future that’s more like the past. A world filled with darkness, superstition and dread when I’d thought we were creating one filled with love and light.
He’s just seventeen, Jonah, but he seems to have completely taken charge of things. All of the youngsters hang on his every word, carry out his every demand, and so does his mother, Dawn. She’s my firstborn. I had her when I was seventeen, and she had Jonah when she was that age too. The witch hunts in England were in the seventeenth century. Is there some kind of sign in this, some connection? Whether there is or not, Dawn has hated me since long before Jonah was born. Maybe if I’d told her the truth from the start things could have been different between us. Maybe she’s the one behind all this. She’s always been angry, bitter, about things even before she found out we’d lied.
But when Jonah first started preaching his sermons he was filled with love and peace, saying how thankful we should be that the old ways were wiped out and we had this chance to start again in a world that was fair for all. But, as times became harder and food more scarce, his preaching became judgmental, controlling, the old-style fire and brimstone, rules and sins, including pointed remarks about potions, spells and witchcraft being the Devil’s work. I stopped going then but he was clever, is clever, and he did it so gradually that I don’t think people noticed it was happening. But now they’re all afraid that if they don’t live how he tells them to they’re all going to hell. At first even I believed that it was all harmless and that he’d get bored of it. Be my grandson again.
But I was wrong.
The Author
Amanda Saint’s debut novel, As If I Were A River, reached number 3 in the WHSmith Travel charts; was selected as a NetGalley Top 10 Book of the Month; and chosen as a Top 20 Book of 2016 by the Book Magnet Blog.
Her short stories have been widely published in anthologies and literary magazines, twice appearing on the Fish Flash Fiction longlist and the Ink Tears Short Story shortlist.
She runs her own creative writing business, Retreat West, through which she runs writing courses and competitions; and an independent publishing house, Retreat West Books.
Amanda also works as a freelance journalist writing about climate change and environmental sustainability.
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