👋 Hello readers!👋 I hope you all are ready for a little bit of dystopian cli-fi. Diane Cook's The New Wilderness is next month's read, and it's one I couldn't get myself to put down. And it seems Cook's debut novel is winning over other readers, too: It's already been optioned by Warner Bros. TV for a series, and it's longlisted for the Booker Prize.
The New Wilderness reveals a too-familiar version of our world, divided into generic spaces like the City, the Manufacturing Zone, the Wilderness State. Bea's 5-year-old daughter, Agnes, is slowly dying from the City's heavily polluted air, so she volunteers to move to the Wilderness as part of a study to see how humans interact with nature. But survival is hard in the wilderness, too. What begins as a group of 20 dwindles over the years (they’ve lost track of time) as the Community struggles to survive in an environment that doesn’t care if they live or die. The emotional core of the story is the relationship between Bea and Agnes, whose perspectives drive the narrative. It’s a damning piece of horror cli-fi, but it’s also a gripping and profound examination of love and sacrifice.
Read part of the first chapter here.
❤️ 📚 Arianna Giveaways! ✨  To celebrate, we've got some (US-only) giveaways: Harper is offering 10 copies with signed bookplates, and Libro.fm is offering 5 free audiobook downloads.
Want a shot at one of these great prizes? Respond to this email by Monday, August 24, 6pm ET, and tell us about your favorite dystopian novel — and be sure to include your address. Winners will be randomly selected. Good luck! 💫
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