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When There Are Wolves Again
The extraordinary speculative novel of past, present and future, by the Clarke Award-shortlisted author of THE CORAL BONES.
Decades from now, two women sit around a fire on Beltane, May Eve, and reflect on their life stories.
Activist Lucy's earliest memories are of living with her grandparents during the 2020 pandemic, and discovering her grandmother's love of birds. Filmmaker Hester, born on the day of the Chornobyl explosion, visits the plant in 2021 to film its feral dog population, and encounters the wilded Exclusion Zone - and a wolf-dog.
Over half a century, their journeys take them from London to Balmoral to Somerset, through protests, family rifts, and personal tragedy. Lucy's path leads to the fight to restore Britain's depleted natural habitats and bring back the species who once shared the island, whilst Hester strives to give a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves. Both dream of a time when there are wolves again.
A novel of life and of hope, WHEN THERE ARE WOLVES AGAIN is perfect for fans of Clade by James Bradley, The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall, and The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson.
Decades from now, two women sit around a fire on Beltane, May Eve, and reflect on their life stories.
Activist Lucy's earliest memories are of living with her grandparents during the 2020 pandemic, and discovering her grandmother's love of birds. Filmmaker Hester, born on the day of the Chornobyl explosion, visits the plant in 2021 to film its feral dog population, and encounters the wilded Exclusion Zone - and a wolf-dog.
Over half a century, their journeys take them from London to Balmoral to Somerset, through protests, family rifts, and personal tragedy. Lucy's path leads to the fight to restore Britain's depleted natural habitats and bring back the species who once shared the island, whilst Hester strives to give a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves. Both dream of a time when there are wolves again.
A novel of life and of hope, WHEN THERE ARE WOLVES AGAIN is perfect for fans of Clade by James Bradley, The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall, and The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson.
416 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 9, 2025
31 people are currently reading
1341 people want to read
About the author
E.J. Swift
26 books96 followersE. J. Swift is the author of The Osiris Project trilogy, a speculative fiction series set in a world radically altered by climate change, comprising Osiris, Cataveiro and Tamaruq. Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies from Salt Publishing, NewCon Press and Jurassic London, including The Best British Fantasy (Salt Publishing, 2013 and 2014).
Swift was shortlisted for a 2013 BSFA Award in the Short Fiction category for her story “Saga’s Children” (The Lowest Heaven, Jurassic) and was longlisted for the 2015 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award for “The Spiders of Stockholm” (Irregularity, Jurassic).
Swift was shortlisted for a 2013 BSFA Award in the Short Fiction category for her story “Saga’s Children” (The Lowest Heaven, Jurassic) and was longlisted for the 2015 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award for “The Spiders of Stockholm” (Irregularity, Jurassic).
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
December 9, 2025
Why is sending humans to Mars more imaginable than reintroducing wolves to the Scottish highlands? That's a question asked in this book, but it's also a question this book asks of science fiction.
As in, every big project that takes long-term planning and executtion can be told as a decades-long science fiction saga, so why not talk about rewilding depleted ecosystems on Earth rather than heading out to other planets?
Full review on the podcast, SFBRP episode #577:
Juliane begins the podcast by wondering whether When There Are Wolves Again by E J Swift is even science fiction, and Luke has strong thoughts on that and other questions.
https://www.sfbrp.com/archives/2393
As in, every big project that takes long-term planning and executtion can be told as a decades-long science fiction saga, so why not talk about rewilding depleted ecosystems on Earth rather than heading out to other planets?
Full review on the podcast, SFBRP episode #577:
Juliane begins the podcast by wondering whether When There Are Wolves Again by E J Swift is even science fiction, and Luke has strong thoughts on that and other questions.
https://www.sfbrp.com/archives/2393
September 27, 2025
When There Are Wolves is a wonderful novel. Quite possibly the most hopeful "dystopian" novel I've ever read.
Split between two narrators -Hannah, the wildlife filmmaker and Lucy, a girl/young woman who cares deeply about the environment. The novel follows the changes in the UK from 2020 to 2070 beginning with Lucy telling her story to Hester.
This is not a political novel - no PMs, Presidents or parties are mentioned/blamed. This novel focuses on the lives of those affected by global warming, land use changes, fights for keeping the status quo and fights for change.
EJ Swift has drawn on many sources to pull together an engaging story about one possible outcome of climate change. We cannot know what will happen in ten or twenty or fifty years but EJ Swift has written a story that focuses on two human responses (along with that of their families) to what may happen.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was, thankfully, a very optimistic novel, which restricts, quite rigidly, to the UK and to two women. And it's all the better for it in my opinion.
Highly recommended.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Quercus Books for the advance review copy. Most appreciated.
Split between two narrators -Hannah, the wildlife filmmaker and Lucy, a girl/young woman who cares deeply about the environment. The novel follows the changes in the UK from 2020 to 2070 beginning with Lucy telling her story to Hester.
This is not a political novel - no PMs, Presidents or parties are mentioned/blamed. This novel focuses on the lives of those affected by global warming, land use changes, fights for keeping the status quo and fights for change.
EJ Swift has drawn on many sources to pull together an engaging story about one possible outcome of climate change. We cannot know what will happen in ten or twenty or fifty years but EJ Swift has written a story that focuses on two human responses (along with that of their families) to what may happen.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was, thankfully, a very optimistic novel, which restricts, quite rigidly, to the UK and to two women. And it's all the better for it in my opinion.
Highly recommended.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Quercus Books for the advance review copy. Most appreciated.
October 19, 2025
In 2024, EJ Swift released the climate fiction novel The Coral Bones. That book took the Great Barrier Reef as its central location and explored it in the past, present and future. The interesting aspect of The Coral Bones was Swift’s focus on resilience and adaptation. Her future is a difficult one but it is also one in which humanity has found ways to accommodates changes in climate. In her latest book When There Are Wolves Again, Swift does something similar, exploring the idea of rewilding as a response to climate change. And in this case her location is the whole of Britain.
The story of When There Are Wolves Again revolves around two women. Hester was born on the day of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 and as a result feels herself connected to that place. So much so that as a film maker she goes there in the 2020s to document the attempted rehabilitation of the dog population, which had been left to go wild in the intervening 35 years. In doing so she ends up adopting a half wolf pup she calls Lux. Born thirty years later is Lucy, who is sent to live with her grandparents during the COVID lockdowns and in doing so learns about nature and the need to fight climate change. Later both will become involved in different projects to rewild different parts of Britain, their lives touching over the next fifty years as those projects gain traction.
When There Are Wolves Again is at its heart an incredibly optimistic piece of climate fiction. Much like The Coral Bones, Swift does not sugar coat the potential impacts of climate change, envisaging a disastrous heat wave in the 2030s. But she is focussed on what could happen if people took the environment seriously, if they worked to together to bring about a change that would make the landscapes they were living in more resilient and more resistant to dangerous changes. Over time she charts the changing of the British landscape and the reintroduction of species that had long since become extinct there.
In a literary landscape full of doom and gloom climate fiction it is refreshing to encounter an author who is selling a different message, That the future is not fixed, that everyone has the capacity to change and that we can make a difference if we want to and are prepared to work with the environment rather than against it.
The story of When There Are Wolves Again revolves around two women. Hester was born on the day of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 and as a result feels herself connected to that place. So much so that as a film maker she goes there in the 2020s to document the attempted rehabilitation of the dog population, which had been left to go wild in the intervening 35 years. In doing so she ends up adopting a half wolf pup she calls Lux. Born thirty years later is Lucy, who is sent to live with her grandparents during the COVID lockdowns and in doing so learns about nature and the need to fight climate change. Later both will become involved in different projects to rewild different parts of Britain, their lives touching over the next fifty years as those projects gain traction.
When There Are Wolves Again is at its heart an incredibly optimistic piece of climate fiction. Much like The Coral Bones, Swift does not sugar coat the potential impacts of climate change, envisaging a disastrous heat wave in the 2030s. But she is focussed on what could happen if people took the environment seriously, if they worked to together to bring about a change that would make the landscapes they were living in more resilient and more resistant to dangerous changes. Over time she charts the changing of the British landscape and the reintroduction of species that had long since become extinct there.
In a literary landscape full of doom and gloom climate fiction it is refreshing to encounter an author who is selling a different message, That the future is not fixed, that everyone has the capacity to change and that we can make a difference if we want to and are prepared to work with the environment rather than against it.
Read
January 6, 2026About two months ago* I had a kidney stone. I wouldn’t wish the intense pain—the equivalent of being stabbed in the kidneys for eight or nine hours—on any single person. Yes, even him.
I tell you this not for you to feel sorry for me, or to suggest that I drink more water, or to tell me about the time you had a kidney stone, but because I read this book over that period.** It’s a testament to Swift’s skills that I was able to enjoy the novel despite the misery and pain. It’s one reason I slotted it in at number three on my best-of-the-year list. It also happens to be an astonishing climate change novel.
When There Are Wolves Again is a thematic sequel to Swift’s previous (and tremendous) novel, The Coral Bones. But where that book is more cautionary—portraying a future two centuries from now in which most habitats have been devastated—When There Are Wolves Again, which begins during COVID and progresses five decades toward the 2070s, imagines what it would take to pull us back from the edge of the cliff.
The novel switches between two protagonists: Lucy and Hester. We meet Lucy during COVID (remember that old pandemic?), spending time with her grandparents, where she comes to appreciate the natural world—birds in particular. Along with her grandmother, she attends a climate protest inspired by Greta Thunberg. There she meets her lifelong friend Annie, and together they become influential climate activists.
Hester, born on the day of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, is a documentarian. When we encounter her, she is producing her first film, documenting rewilding efforts and wolves in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. She leaves Chernobyl with footage and a wolf-dog pup whom she names Lux. Hester’s documentary brings her fame and the freedom to chart her own course, one that focuses on the changing British landscape and on farmers—like her estranged brother—fighting against the inevitable loss of their land to climate change.
I’ve read a lot of near-future climate fiction,*** and a good chunk of it—especially novels that attempt to forecast what the coming decades will look like, such as Stephen Markley’s The Deluge—is justifiably bleak.**** With recent reports that the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free during summer by 2030, and given who we currently have sitting in the Oval Office, it’s hard to find a bright side. E. J. Swift’s approach is not to sugar-coat reality, but to place a little more faith in activism.
This doesn’t mean bad shit doesn’t happen. Climate catastrophe aside, Lucy is assaulted by a climate-denying, British-first, right-wing nutter, and Hester struggles to make peace with her brother, who is slowly losing his way of life as farmland is reclaimed as marshland. But Swift also offers a glimmer of hope: governments finally reducing carbon emissions to zero, rewilding efforts across Europe, and the King bequeathing his lands back to the commons. None of it is easy. People suffer and die. Families fracture. Friendships are tested. But there is a sense—however faint—that we can drag ourselves out of the climate mire.
While I’m sure I’ll read a great deal of climate fiction in the coming years, it will take one hell of a novel to surpass the passion, insight, and humanity of When There Are Wolves Again.
*Yes, that’s how far behind I am on these reviews.
** Modern pain relief is a miracle.
*** You can’t pay me to use the term “cli-fi.”
**** Jessie Greengrass’s The High House is another example—a true gut-punch of a novel.
I tell you this not for you to feel sorry for me, or to suggest that I drink more water, or to tell me about the time you had a kidney stone, but because I read this book over that period.** It’s a testament to Swift’s skills that I was able to enjoy the novel despite the misery and pain. It’s one reason I slotted it in at number three on my best-of-the-year list. It also happens to be an astonishing climate change novel.
When There Are Wolves Again is a thematic sequel to Swift’s previous (and tremendous) novel, The Coral Bones. But where that book is more cautionary—portraying a future two centuries from now in which most habitats have been devastated—When There Are Wolves Again, which begins during COVID and progresses five decades toward the 2070s, imagines what it would take to pull us back from the edge of the cliff.
The novel switches between two protagonists: Lucy and Hester. We meet Lucy during COVID (remember that old pandemic?), spending time with her grandparents, where she comes to appreciate the natural world—birds in particular. Along with her grandmother, she attends a climate protest inspired by Greta Thunberg. There she meets her lifelong friend Annie, and together they become influential climate activists.
Hester, born on the day of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, is a documentarian. When we encounter her, she is producing her first film, documenting rewilding efforts and wolves in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. She leaves Chernobyl with footage and a wolf-dog pup whom she names Lux. Hester’s documentary brings her fame and the freedom to chart her own course, one that focuses on the changing British landscape and on farmers—like her estranged brother—fighting against the inevitable loss of their land to climate change.
I’ve read a lot of near-future climate fiction,*** and a good chunk of it—especially novels that attempt to forecast what the coming decades will look like, such as Stephen Markley’s The Deluge—is justifiably bleak.**** With recent reports that the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free during summer by 2030, and given who we currently have sitting in the Oval Office, it’s hard to find a bright side. E. J. Swift’s approach is not to sugar-coat reality, but to place a little more faith in activism.
This doesn’t mean bad shit doesn’t happen. Climate catastrophe aside, Lucy is assaulted by a climate-denying, British-first, right-wing nutter, and Hester struggles to make peace with her brother, who is slowly losing his way of life as farmland is reclaimed as marshland. But Swift also offers a glimmer of hope: governments finally reducing carbon emissions to zero, rewilding efforts across Europe, and the King bequeathing his lands back to the commons. None of it is easy. People suffer and die. Families fracture. Friendships are tested. But there is a sense—however faint—that we can drag ourselves out of the climate mire.
While I’m sure I’ll read a great deal of climate fiction in the coming years, it will take one hell of a novel to surpass the passion, insight, and humanity of When There Are Wolves Again.
*Yes, that’s how far behind I am on these reviews.
** Modern pain relief is a miracle.
*** You can’t pay me to use the term “cli-fi.”
**** Jessie Greengrass’s The High House is another example—a true gut-punch of a novel.
October 20, 2025
One of the best reads of my year and I think another of my all time ones
A novel exploring the future of the century with an environmental focus and just an incredible read - hope even when we know the future is not easy - strongly recommended!
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
A novel exploring the future of the century with an environmental focus and just an incredible read - hope even when we know the future is not easy - strongly recommended!
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
December 7, 2025
Wonderful - one of my best reads of the year.
Want to read
April 10, 2025For fans of Bradley's Clade? I'm in
December 8, 2025
There's an episode of Ted Lasso where Higgins makes a dumb pun for the first time, and Ted slams through the door of Rebecca's office, points at Higgins, and says, "YES." That's how it felt reading this book. Just... YES. I loved it. Definitely one of my top reads of the year.
January 20, 2026
Dystopian but optimistic by the end. Though the optimism comes from somewhat contrived government actions. Understandable given the focus on individuals rather than government though.
August 30, 2025
New author discovered! With thanks to Netgalley and Quercus Books, I already want this and The Coral Bones on my shelf.
WTAWA begins in covid times and, whilst I used to avoid virus plots, Swift combines these scenes with a nostalgic sense of childhood. As we jump through the years, we begin to see the toll our lifestyle is taking on Earth, and what Lucy and Hester do to fight for its wildlife.
I also really liked how Swift laid her chapters out, but I’ve seen that it draws some readers out (so you’ll just have to try it and see)! One character narrates in first person, whilst the other narrates in second, giving the impression that we’re sat around the fire too. We journey right up until the night they’re talking together, and I thought it was lovely to see what COULD be.
WTAWA begins in covid times and, whilst I used to avoid virus plots, Swift combines these scenes with a nostalgic sense of childhood. As we jump through the years, we begin to see the toll our lifestyle is taking on Earth, and what Lucy and Hester do to fight for its wildlife.
I also really liked how Swift laid her chapters out, but I’ve seen that it draws some readers out (so you’ll just have to try it and see)! One character narrates in first person, whilst the other narrates in second, giving the impression that we’re sat around the fire too. We journey right up until the night they’re talking together, and I thought it was lovely to see what COULD be.
June 14, 2025
What a powerful book! I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.
This novel spans decades, following two characters. We have a young girl who is inspired into environmental activism by her grandparents, and a documentary filmmaker whose life is punctuated by the dogs she keeps, descended from a half wolf she rescues from Chornobyl.
The novel covers really important subjects, we look at issues we’ve already seen, and then environmental and social issues that we may face in the near future. The novel balances broad scale with the local impact too. Lucy is particularly concerned with the birds in her gran’s garden but then we also see political action, loss of habitat and species. There’s a lot of rage at what the characters and the world have to face in this story. It’s frightening how they have to battle not only the huge environmental issues, but also the violence and cruelty from other humans.
I feel largely positive about this book. The author made a couple of unusual choices in the writing construction. One is that the second perspective is written in second person. I didn’t mind this, it actually worked in this book and felt relevant to the recounting of that characters story. However this book was also written without speech marks. This was quite jarring and I found myself pulled out of the narrative flow to try and discern what was and wasn’t speech. This was a shame as it made the story feel stop/start in places which affected my immersion in the book. I’m sure these choices will be received well from a literary perspective for doing something unusual, however the lack of speech marks did affect my enjoyment of the book. Without this issue this would have been an easy five stars for the power of the book and the exploration of the content and how invested in felt in these characters.
This novel spans decades, following two characters. We have a young girl who is inspired into environmental activism by her grandparents, and a documentary filmmaker whose life is punctuated by the dogs she keeps, descended from a half wolf she rescues from Chornobyl.
The novel covers really important subjects, we look at issues we’ve already seen, and then environmental and social issues that we may face in the near future. The novel balances broad scale with the local impact too. Lucy is particularly concerned with the birds in her gran’s garden but then we also see political action, loss of habitat and species. There’s a lot of rage at what the characters and the world have to face in this story. It’s frightening how they have to battle not only the huge environmental issues, but also the violence and cruelty from other humans.
I feel largely positive about this book. The author made a couple of unusual choices in the writing construction. One is that the second perspective is written in second person. I didn’t mind this, it actually worked in this book and felt relevant to the recounting of that characters story. However this book was also written without speech marks. This was quite jarring and I found myself pulled out of the narrative flow to try and discern what was and wasn’t speech. This was a shame as it made the story feel stop/start in places which affected my immersion in the book. I’m sure these choices will be received well from a literary perspective for doing something unusual, however the lack of speech marks did affect my enjoyment of the book. Without this issue this would have been an easy five stars for the power of the book and the exploration of the content and how invested in felt in these characters.
October 12, 2025
When There Are Wolves Again by E.J.Swift is one of the finest pieces of speculative fiction I have ever read.
Read more of our review: https://www.bookerworm.com/reviews/92...
Read more of our review: https://www.bookerworm.com/reviews/92...
October 26, 2025
This terrific speculative fiction novel is one of the best I have read and is going straight to the top of my best books of 2025. In the novel, E.J Swift speculates on how the world as we know it, could re-invent itself to be a kinder, more sustainable world for all living organisms. It’s not a book forecasting gloom and doom, but one of hope, if mankind will only listen to the planet and make changes now before we reach a tipping point.
The novel opens with two women, Lucy and Hester, sharing stories around a fire in the Cairngorms at Beltane in 2070. In 2020 Lucy was a ten year child sent to live with her grandparents during the covid lockdowns when her parents found they couldn’t cope with her endless questions. There she learned about ecology and conservation and the importance of supporting diverse ecosystems. She would go on to become an environmental activist and, following the deadly heat waves of 2030, to fight for rewilding of Britain to return rivers, marshes and farmland to their original wild state.
Hester was born on the day of the Chernobyl accident, 26th April 1986. She grew up on a dairy farm but chose to leave and become a photographer and film maker. Her affinity with Chernobyl has led her to visit the exclusion zone in 2021 to make a film about a group of vets who annually visit the descendents of the pet dogs left behind to vaccinate, neuter and treat them for parasites. While there she saves a newborn pup of a part wolf and brings her back to Britain. She would go on to make many films focusing on rewilding, becoming a famous wildlife photographer.
Lucy and Hester’s journeys are told in alternating chapters over the next fifty years. While Lucy’s chapters are written in the first person, Hester’s are written in the second person, which works really well, as she sees herself as merely a conduit of what she sees through the lens of her camera. There is also a lack of speech marks, which I know bothers some readers, but which I barely noticed as the writing is so immersive that it’s always obvious who is speaking.
This is superb speculative fiction, particularly as it is within the realm of the possible to make changes towards a sustainable future, but only if we can give up the idea of personal ownership of the land and allow it to heal itself. The author acknowledges that it won’t be easy, with her fictional extreme right wing party fighting against and undermining the climate activists mirroring current reality. In her author’s note, E.J Swift acknowledges her sources of inspiration in the rewilding projects already underway to make the land more resilient. Her message of hope is an uplifting one, telling us it is not too late to change the future, but only if we can work together.
With thanks to Quercus books for a copy to read via Netgalley
The novel opens with two women, Lucy and Hester, sharing stories around a fire in the Cairngorms at Beltane in 2070. In 2020 Lucy was a ten year child sent to live with her grandparents during the covid lockdowns when her parents found they couldn’t cope with her endless questions. There she learned about ecology and conservation and the importance of supporting diverse ecosystems. She would go on to become an environmental activist and, following the deadly heat waves of 2030, to fight for rewilding of Britain to return rivers, marshes and farmland to their original wild state.
Hester was born on the day of the Chernobyl accident, 26th April 1986. She grew up on a dairy farm but chose to leave and become a photographer and film maker. Her affinity with Chernobyl has led her to visit the exclusion zone in 2021 to make a film about a group of vets who annually visit the descendents of the pet dogs left behind to vaccinate, neuter and treat them for parasites. While there she saves a newborn pup of a part wolf and brings her back to Britain. She would go on to make many films focusing on rewilding, becoming a famous wildlife photographer.
Lucy and Hester’s journeys are told in alternating chapters over the next fifty years. While Lucy’s chapters are written in the first person, Hester’s are written in the second person, which works really well, as she sees herself as merely a conduit of what she sees through the lens of her camera. There is also a lack of speech marks, which I know bothers some readers, but which I barely noticed as the writing is so immersive that it’s always obvious who is speaking.
This is superb speculative fiction, particularly as it is within the realm of the possible to make changes towards a sustainable future, but only if we can give up the idea of personal ownership of the land and allow it to heal itself. The author acknowledges that it won’t be easy, with her fictional extreme right wing party fighting against and undermining the climate activists mirroring current reality. In her author’s note, E.J Swift acknowledges her sources of inspiration in the rewilding projects already underway to make the land more resilient. Her message of hope is an uplifting one, telling us it is not too late to change the future, but only if we can work together.
With thanks to Quercus books for a copy to read via Netgalley
November 5, 2025
I like a bit of future history. In particular, I like a memoir set in the future, particularly if it overlaps with the present to give it a boost in verisimilitude. It may not do much for its longevity, but the two concurrent memoirs that run through When There Are Wolves Again span forty years from the pandemic in 2020 to the titular occurrence in the UK in 2070. There are two protagonists: Lucy, who is a child who stays with her grandparents during COVID, and develops a strong bond with her grandmother over environmental issues, and Hester, who is an ecological documentary filmmaker who we meet in 2021, making a film about the dogs of Chernobyl and rescuing a pup that is part wolf. The book has quite large time jumps for each character. We watch Lucy go on her first school strike and idolising Greta Thunberg. We see Hester being made homeless due to her dog and a sense of despair in systems falling apart. This is a very British eco-thriller, and so after her excellent grounding in the present, Swift then extrapolates political and technological developments (particularly politically, one is loath to initially call it progress). The two stories complement each other; Lucy's is about the life of an activist, Hester's is that of a journalist, and so we do get a broad sense of how disaster can be overcome. Indeed one of the key things about When There Are Wolves Again is that it turns its dystopia towards utopia, and not just ecologically.
I really liked this book because it took its time to linger on its two central characters' emotional lives and development. Lucy in particular, we see from a very formative age, and there is a lovely subtext that starts from her being dumped with her grandparents through COVID, to finding common ground with her disapproving grandmother. We join Hester when she is already independent, but we get to see her and her brother in later life discussing their difficult farmyard childhood. And as they grow older we see Lucy, a more gregarious character, making friends, going to University and running an eco-protest site. Obviously, Swift takes some big swings in her future history, there is one development with the Royal Family that is hugely unlikely and yet is perfectly justified in the plotting. But it was an absolute pleasure to spend time with these characters, and see their world develop in a way that perhaps, with the dedication of these characters our world could also improve.
I really liked this book because it took its time to linger on its two central characters' emotional lives and development. Lucy in particular, we see from a very formative age, and there is a lovely subtext that starts from her being dumped with her grandparents through COVID, to finding common ground with her disapproving grandmother. We join Hester when she is already independent, but we get to see her and her brother in later life discussing their difficult farmyard childhood. And as they grow older we see Lucy, a more gregarious character, making friends, going to University and running an eco-protest site. Obviously, Swift takes some big swings in her future history, there is one development with the Royal Family that is hugely unlikely and yet is perfectly justified in the plotting. But it was an absolute pleasure to spend time with these characters, and see their world develop in a way that perhaps, with the dedication of these characters our world could also improve.
November 19, 2025
It's a long time since I've read what is, unabashedly, a utopian political manifesto. What that means is that you shouldn't look too closely at the seams.
The technology in this book continues to advance and since quite a lot of it is electronics, that means Swift is ignoring the environmental damage caused by mining (see Under a Metal Sky: A Journey Through Minerals, Greed and Wonder, Marsden, Philip for things you really really didn't want to know about just how damaging mining is and how dependent we all are on other lands and people being poisoned).
As part of that I also fear that this book avoids the issue that Britain has traditionally mostly resolved its pollution, waste and health and safety issues by simply exporting the problem. In that sense thebook is, inadvertantly, part of the long tradition of cosy colonialism in which only what happens here matters.
I did enjoy it. It's very well written, the nature writing is stunning and the characters are compelling, but it is, for want of a better phrase, a cosy-utopia, rooted firmly in Middle England.* In that it sits with authors like John Wyndham, Jan Mark and Nina Allen (all superb writers).
NB:
In the event of the UK running out of oil, roads not being maintained, air flight disappearing and the trains being rationed....
We have *canals*, and *navigable waterways* and an entire bloody coastline around which you can *sail* cargo ships. None of this is visible.
*I was genuinely a bit puzzled how the heroine ends up in Balmoral. Windsor is a lot closer to London.
The technology in this book continues to advance and since quite a lot of it is electronics, that means Swift is ignoring the environmental damage caused by mining (see Under a Metal Sky: A Journey Through Minerals, Greed and Wonder, Marsden, Philip for things you really really didn't want to know about just how damaging mining is and how dependent we all are on other lands and people being poisoned).
As part of that I also fear that this book avoids the issue that Britain has traditionally mostly resolved its pollution, waste and health and safety issues by simply exporting the problem. In that sense thebook is, inadvertantly, part of the long tradition of cosy colonialism in which only what happens here matters.
I did enjoy it. It's very well written, the nature writing is stunning and the characters are compelling, but it is, for want of a better phrase, a cosy-utopia, rooted firmly in Middle England.* In that it sits with authors like John Wyndham, Jan Mark and Nina Allen (all superb writers).
NB:
In the event of the UK running out of oil, roads not being maintained, air flight disappearing and the trains being rationed....
We have *canals*, and *navigable waterways* and an entire bloody coastline around which you can *sail* cargo ships. None of this is visible.
*I was genuinely a bit puzzled how the heroine ends up in Balmoral. Windsor is a lot closer to London.
December 8, 2025
I first heard of this book in my reading group’s Whatsapp conversation. ‘My top read of 2025,’ messaged a reader whose views I respect and I knew I had to read it.
The book follows two very different characters - Hester and Lucy. Born years apart between them their stories reflect the rapidly changing landscape of climate change. Hester grew up on a farm, but has rejected this lifestyle, becoming an award winning film director. Her films reflect the changing landscapes and wildlife and her breakthrough came with a ground breaking film about the dogs of Chernobyl. Whilst filming vets in Chernobyl she encounters a lone wolf, pregnant and in distress. The wolf dies, but her cub is saved and Hester manages to smuggle her back to the Uk where they form a unique bond. Lucy is brought up mainly by her grandparents. They love nature, nurture wildlife in their garden and watch the swifts return each year to their nestbox. Both women will play significant roles against a backdrop of climate collapse and regeneration ..
This is a powerful and timely read which had me engrossed. I think it is quite extraordinary and very different and that makes for an enjoyable and sometimes more challenging read. Hester and Lucy are very different; as are their stories and sometimes it was like reading 2 different books. This is amplified by the writing: Lucy’s story is told in first person and Hester’s in second person. This was a really interesting technique. Reading Hester’s story felt like putting her in front of the camera and watching her. Initially I felt happiest reading Lucy’s story. It was more familiar, less alien.
Sometimes this book felt like watching a documentary. So much happens that felt real rather than story. Pandemics, flooding, rewilding. This landscape of climate change felt so real. What I loved about this book was the focus on wildlife, on animals and on the landscape and through the story the recognition that these are the things that will save the planet. Hester and Lucy were such well-drawn and fascinating characters and their agency and endeavour was a powerful source of hope in the book.
The book follows two very different characters - Hester and Lucy. Born years apart between them their stories reflect the rapidly changing landscape of climate change. Hester grew up on a farm, but has rejected this lifestyle, becoming an award winning film director. Her films reflect the changing landscapes and wildlife and her breakthrough came with a ground breaking film about the dogs of Chernobyl. Whilst filming vets in Chernobyl she encounters a lone wolf, pregnant and in distress. The wolf dies, but her cub is saved and Hester manages to smuggle her back to the Uk where they form a unique bond. Lucy is brought up mainly by her grandparents. They love nature, nurture wildlife in their garden and watch the swifts return each year to their nestbox. Both women will play significant roles against a backdrop of climate collapse and regeneration ..
This is a powerful and timely read which had me engrossed. I think it is quite extraordinary and very different and that makes for an enjoyable and sometimes more challenging read. Hester and Lucy are very different; as are their stories and sometimes it was like reading 2 different books. This is amplified by the writing: Lucy’s story is told in first person and Hester’s in second person. This was a really interesting technique. Reading Hester’s story felt like putting her in front of the camera and watching her. Initially I felt happiest reading Lucy’s story. It was more familiar, less alien.
Sometimes this book felt like watching a documentary. So much happens that felt real rather than story. Pandemics, flooding, rewilding. This landscape of climate change felt so real. What I loved about this book was the focus on wildlife, on animals and on the landscape and through the story the recognition that these are the things that will save the planet. Hester and Lucy were such well-drawn and fascinating characters and their agency and endeavour was a powerful source of hope in the book.
May 22, 2025
I was hooked on the fact it's set on Beltane so of course I had to read it! This is a very thought-provoking story that tells the tale of two women who reflect on their lives around a beltane fire many years in the future.
It follows their lives throughout the timelines - it's dual POV as well as has time jumping through chapters.
The story touches on climate change, the pandemic and Chernobyl disaster and outlines how they both dream of a time when there are wolves again, it's very speculative and insightful. I really enjoyed the concept of this book however I did prefer reading Lucy's perspective simply because Hester's is told in a sort of third person style using 'you do this' or 'you thought that' i just can't connect with stories like that unfortunately so it was a bit of a drag when I was reading Hester.
Hester is the filmmaker who returns to the Chernobyl site in 2021 to document the feral dog population and Lucy loves birds and her story starts during the pandemic in 2020 and grows to fighting for rewilding efforts in the UK.
Overall the story is interesting and full of thought.
It follows their lives throughout the timelines - it's dual POV as well as has time jumping through chapters.
The story touches on climate change, the pandemic and Chernobyl disaster and outlines how they both dream of a time when there are wolves again, it's very speculative and insightful. I really enjoyed the concept of this book however I did prefer reading Lucy's perspective simply because Hester's is told in a sort of third person style using 'you do this' or 'you thought that' i just can't connect with stories like that unfortunately so it was a bit of a drag when I was reading Hester.
Hester is the filmmaker who returns to the Chernobyl site in 2021 to document the feral dog population and Lucy loves birds and her story starts during the pandemic in 2020 and grows to fighting for rewilding efforts in the UK.
Overall the story is interesting and full of thought.
December 28, 2025
5⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
This is truly one of the most realistic dystopian novels I have ever read. We chart the lives and activism of two women in the UK from the Covid pandemic up until the 2070s, where people are still trying to help nature (and themselves) thrive and survive against the odds.
The writing is fluid, straightforward and intoxicating. I really struggled to put the book down.
I loved how the connections to nature made the characters feel passion to their causes - it is not by accident that Lucy feels a kinship with the birds that her grandmother attends to every year when they nest in her garden. And Hester observing how dogs can thrive in any conditions, as long as they are loved was so special.
The overall message of hope and resilience was so powerful that I wonder if we can really keep going that far into the 21st century. A truly stunning novel that will stick with me forever.
Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
This is truly one of the most realistic dystopian novels I have ever read. We chart the lives and activism of two women in the UK from the Covid pandemic up until the 2070s, where people are still trying to help nature (and themselves) thrive and survive against the odds.
The writing is fluid, straightforward and intoxicating. I really struggled to put the book down.
I loved how the connections to nature made the characters feel passion to their causes - it is not by accident that Lucy feels a kinship with the birds that her grandmother attends to every year when they nest in her garden. And Hester observing how dogs can thrive in any conditions, as long as they are loved was so special.
The overall message of hope and resilience was so powerful that I wonder if we can really keep going that far into the 21st century. A truly stunning novel that will stick with me forever.
January 13, 2026
3.5 stars and I’m not sure how to review this piece of very well written and constructed piece of speculative fiction.
The book starts out following the lives of a documentary filmmaker who we first meet in Ukraine and a young girl in the care of her grandparents in England during the covid 19 pandemic. Both lives are shaped by ongoing challenges of climate change and loss of biodiversity and against a political and social backdrop that will be familiar to anyone living in the UK in the 21st Century.
It has its share of human drama, without being a page turner and for some reason evoked for me thoughts of Greenham Common and the anti nuclear movement of the 1980s.
The narratives of the lives of the two main protagonists are intertwined in a very tangential way up until the conclusion of the novel. It is thoughtful and optimistic and deserves to be widely read because it is clearly a labor of love. That said, it didn’t entirely grip me in the way I had hoped. It was solid and enjoyable and I suspect it will be well liked by readers of Ian McEwan’s “What We Can Know”.
The book starts out following the lives of a documentary filmmaker who we first meet in Ukraine and a young girl in the care of her grandparents in England during the covid 19 pandemic. Both lives are shaped by ongoing challenges of climate change and loss of biodiversity and against a political and social backdrop that will be familiar to anyone living in the UK in the 21st Century.
It has its share of human drama, without being a page turner and for some reason evoked for me thoughts of Greenham Common and the anti nuclear movement of the 1980s.
The narratives of the lives of the two main protagonists are intertwined in a very tangential way up until the conclusion of the novel. It is thoughtful and optimistic and deserves to be widely read because it is clearly a labor of love. That said, it didn’t entirely grip me in the way I had hoped. It was solid and enjoyable and I suspect it will be well liked by readers of Ian McEwan’s “What We Can Know”.
August 13, 2025
Effective compelling story telling about a possible future. By the end I really loved this
In full
This is the recollections of two women who are involved with the environment generally mainly in the UK. It covers their memories over a period of about 50 years and, in the main, are about things that haven't happened yet! If you are happy about that then you have a treat in store to my mind.
It's Beltane in 2070. Lucy and Hester are exchanging memories of their lives. The book gives us these stories and alternates between the two characters. Lucy starts with her memories of 2020 (she was 6) and the period of Covid lockdowns when she was "shipped off" to her grandparents. It's fair to say she liked her grandfather better than her grandmother but it really did make me smile. Hester's story starts at Chornobyl (Chernobyl) in 2020. She is a wildlife/environmental film maker and older than Lucy. She is working in the exclusion zone with the dogs there and was born at the time of the accident. She is fascinated by the idea of a wolf dog.
The two of them go on to offer their memories of things that have not yet happened and I'm not going to spoil the treat by saying what they are. I found the ideas they came up with fascinating. In general they involved wildlife, the countryside and rewilding. Personally I found none of them extreme or unbelievable and the author refers to where some of the ideas originated from at the end.
While the writing style is a little quirky (and differs for each of the characters) to me it felt real. There's a powerful immediacy to the story telling as far as I am concerned. Often the stories were very moving and hit the spot for me. I guess I marginally preferred Lucy's stories however some of Hester's were very powerful indeed. I'm not sure I've been aware of the concept of "speculative fiction" before however this really appealed to me and kept me reading throughout. 4.5/5 however very happily rounded up for both the approach and the stories.
Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review
In full
This is the recollections of two women who are involved with the environment generally mainly in the UK. It covers their memories over a period of about 50 years and, in the main, are about things that haven't happened yet! If you are happy about that then you have a treat in store to my mind.
It's Beltane in 2070. Lucy and Hester are exchanging memories of their lives. The book gives us these stories and alternates between the two characters. Lucy starts with her memories of 2020 (she was 6) and the period of Covid lockdowns when she was "shipped off" to her grandparents. It's fair to say she liked her grandfather better than her grandmother but it really did make me smile. Hester's story starts at Chornobyl (Chernobyl) in 2020. She is a wildlife/environmental film maker and older than Lucy. She is working in the exclusion zone with the dogs there and was born at the time of the accident. She is fascinated by the idea of a wolf dog.
The two of them go on to offer their memories of things that have not yet happened and I'm not going to spoil the treat by saying what they are. I found the ideas they came up with fascinating. In general they involved wildlife, the countryside and rewilding. Personally I found none of them extreme or unbelievable and the author refers to where some of the ideas originated from at the end.
While the writing style is a little quirky (and differs for each of the characters) to me it felt real. There's a powerful immediacy to the story telling as far as I am concerned. Often the stories were very moving and hit the spot for me. I guess I marginally preferred Lucy's stories however some of Hester's were very powerful indeed. I'm not sure I've been aware of the concept of "speculative fiction" before however this really appealed to me and kept me reading throughout. 4.5/5 however very happily rounded up for both the approach and the stories.
Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review
May 29, 2025
This is the story of two British women over the next forty years or so, taking in climate change, eco-activism, rewilding and pandemics. It takes the form of pair of separate narratives that brush up against each other and overlap here and there as each chapter hops us forward a few years. Swift does a great job of keeping us up to date with these women’s personal lives and relationships over the decades while also sketching the political and social changes happening. She never flinches from the scale of the catastrophe facing us, but crucially offers hope and solutions instead of wallowing in doom. It’s tempting to read this as a smaller scale, more intimate, version of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Ministry For The Future, but that isn’t necessary - it’s a more than good enough book to stand on its own. Plus it has some excellent dogs* in it. I really liked this one.
September 29, 2025
Thank you to Quercus Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 stars.
We follow two characters from the outbreak of COVID over a 50 year period as the UK struggles with climate and ecological changes. One, Lucy, is an activist, and the other, Hester, is a nature documentary film-maker.
At times this felt pretty close to home, with rising temperatures, flooding and the rise of a far right party. What I loved is how an effort is made by the characters in the book to reverse the devastating effects of climate change and loss of native animals.
I finished reading this book with a feeling of hope, and that can't be underestimated.
4.5 stars.
We follow two characters from the outbreak of COVID over a 50 year period as the UK struggles with climate and ecological changes. One, Lucy, is an activist, and the other, Hester, is a nature documentary film-maker.
At times this felt pretty close to home, with rising temperatures, flooding and the rise of a far right party. What I loved is how an effort is made by the characters in the book to reverse the devastating effects of climate change and loss of native animals.
I finished reading this book with a feeling of hope, and that can't be underestimated.
December 31, 2025
The first 80 pages were a bit slow, and I often got lost with the time jumps. At the begging I was so confused that I didn’t even realise Lucy and Hester were two different people!
But gradually, the story started to come together, and I found myself turning the pages faster.
I’m taking off one star because I think the pacing could be improved. I didn’t really like the 5-6 year time jumps in each chapter, but then there were moments like spending two pages describing how the dog was just lying around.
But it was a good way to end the year’s reading, with a bit of hope and optimism.
But gradually, the story started to come together, and I found myself turning the pages faster.
I’m taking off one star because I think the pacing could be improved. I didn’t really like the 5-6 year time jumps in each chapter, but then there were moments like spending two pages describing how the dog was just lying around.
But it was a good way to end the year’s reading, with a bit of hope and optimism.
January 1, 2026
A story that resonates with the state of nature and humanity's relationship with it. Following the life stories of two women creates exceptionally beautiful drama. A book about growing up and growing old, about activism and reaction, about forgiveness as revenge, about restoring life on earth. It offers hope and shows that hope entails action.
January 17, 2026
i'm a fan of cli-fi, from the hyper-optmistic, political ministry for the future, to the bleak and gritty water knife. this is probably my favourite so far, filled with hope, the beauty of nature, lyricism, and some truly touching moments. v much set in the uk so should resonate especially with british audiences.
December 20, 2025
This book only seems to be available as an audio book. On the Goodreads Amazon link, this message is displayed:
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Does anyone know how to get an E-book copy?
This edition of this title is not available for purchase in your country. Choose an available edition from the options above
Does anyone know how to get an E-book copy?
January 10, 2026
3.5/5. Premise of this book couldn’t be more up my street but it felt a bit YA fiction at times and so I was a bit disappointed. Had read a good few of the books it was inspired by so it didn’t feel as fresh to me as it might have for other readers. Still enjoyed it
December 6, 2025
an excellent read!!! in the US we had to get a hardcover copy from Blackwells in the UK but they have free US shipping.
December 20, 2025
A future of hope. How it still can happen.
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