This debut novel is set in a near future California; a West where people who once flocked in search of gold, fame, and citrus are now, after a decades-long drought and mass evacuations, desperate to escape. The story focuses on twenty-five-year-old Luz, her boyfriend Ray, and their flight from an abandoned Los Angeles, filled with empty pools and drifting people, with a child they name Ig whom they take as their own. Current temptations and complicated pasts make remaining together, even merely surviving, the treacherous journey all the more challenging.
Watkin’s rich language and vivid description, which frequently reads like poetry, paint a devastatingly clear picture of this increasingly feasible world. At times, her writing makes it feel like work to get through, but ultimately creates a rewarding reading experience. I would recommend it for fans of Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven who haven’t yet fallen victim to dystopian novel fatigue.