Orange Island: A Novel

by Vanessa Frances

A mysterious death, a techno-dystopian backdrop, a crumbling climate. A young woman searches for answers in this meditative, lyrical thriller.

In 2060 Orlando, FL, the state’s corruption festers amid unpredictable storms and climate upheaval, plunging society into a desperate eat the rich struggle for survival. As the world crumbles around her, 23-year-old Savannah fights to secure the bare essentials—drinkable water, dwindling food rations, and coveted orange juice. With only her father to rely on, Savannah navigates a world where tech reigns over humanity; and healthcare, climate-controlled housing, and life-saving news alerts are a privilege for the wealthy elite.
Everything changes the day she stumbles upon her late sister's journal. Grief morphs into determination as she learns about her sister’s involvement in a pharmaceutical project that could revolutionize medicine for all.

Armed with this knowledge, Savannah holds the key to completing her sister's work. Will she have the courage to do so? Or will fear and despair shackle her to a fate worse than death?

308 pages, Paperback

Published May 15, 2026

About the author

Vanessa Frances is an Orlando-based writer whose work blends the intimate and the uncanny, exploring what it means to be human in times of environmental and societal upheaval. A playwright, poet, screenwriter, and author, she crafts stories that merge realism with speculative and surreal elements, creating emotionally resonant narratives that sit at the edge of the familiar and the extraordinary.

Her award-winning stage play The Magic Castle Still Stands debuted at Orlando Fringe 2024, earning the Patron’s Pick Award, critical praise from Orlando Weekly, multiple sold-out performances, and a Best Actor win for lead performer Amelia Reed Bryant. The play was later acquired by the University of Manitoba for a February 2025 production run. Her follow-up work, Clingstone, premiered at Orlando Fringe FestN4 in January 2025, where it won Best Story and received acclaim from the Orlando Sentinel.

Vanessa’s screenwriting work includes And I Will Walk You Home, an upcoming film scheduled for a 2026 festival premiere and supported by Film Florida’s Emerging Filmmaker Fund. Her fiction publications include Through Neighboring Windows, a collection of 17 interconnected short stories set against the backdrop of climate and societal collapse, and Orange Island, her speculative debut novel releasing Spring 2026 from Red Rook Press, an imprint of the University of Alabama Press. Orange Island was also named to the 2025 Futurist Debut Book Award long list by The Coil Magazine.

A graduate of Penn State University with a B.A. in Journalism, Vanessa was a 2025 Key West Literary Seminar Writer in Residence. Her work is driven by a commitment to climate-focused storytelling, emotional truth, and a humanist voice across mediums.

Reviews

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s 2060, and Florida is slowly being swallowed by the rising waters of the Gulf. Clean drinking water is scarce, hurricanes have grown increasingly destructive, and the heat has become deadly. For Savannah and her older sister, Dove, these aren’t predictions of a distant climate crisis—they’re everyday life.

But when Dove suddenly dies, Savannah is left with overwhelming grief and unanswered questions. After discovering her sister’s journal, she learns that Dove had been involved in potentially life-altering research at a pharmaceutical company. Driven by grief and a need to understand what happened to the sister she loved, Savannah begins searching for answers.

Orange Island is very much a climate dystopian novel. Its world is filled with increasingly extreme weather, political unrest, rising seas, water shortages, and people dying from extreme heat. What made the story especially unsettling is that many of these elements don’t feel entirely outside the realm of possibility. The novel almost reads as a warning, a glimpse at what life could look like if the climate crisis continues to worsen.

I found that aspect of the story incredibly eye-opening. Beneath the dystopian setting and mystery surrounding Dove’s death is also a deeply personal story about grief. Savannah isn’t simply trying to uncover what her sister was working on. She is trying to understand someone she loved after losing the opportunity to ask her those questions herself.

I do think the book would have benefited from stronger editing. There were noticeable spacing and formatting issues, sentences that were repeated word for word, and portions of the story that felt repetitive. However, this was published by a very small independent press, so I was able to overlook many of those issues. For me, the heart of the story was strong enough that the imperfections in its execution didn’t overshadow what the author was trying to accomplish.

Overall, Orange Island is an unsettling and thought-provoking look at climate change and grief and what it might mean to simply survive in a world increasingly shaped by environmental disaster.

It’s fiction but perhaps the most disturbing part is how easily you can imagine pieces of this world becoming reality. 🤔

[Swapna Peri ( Book Reviews Cafe ) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Orange Island is a science fiction book written by Vanessa Frances and published by Red Rook Press in 2026. The story takes place in Orlando, Florida, in the year 2060. The weather is very hot and there are bad storms. A twenty-three-year-old girl named Savannah Alonso tries to survive on small amounts of water and food. She misses her older sister, Dove, who died thirteen years ago. Everything changes when Savannah finds Dove’s old notebook. This book is Dove's diary, and it shows that Dove worked on a secret medicine called Forticlime to help people handle the heat.

The book does a great job showing a scary world where wealthy people live easy lives while poor people struggle. Rich people can buy robot helpers called Augmistums and special skin implants called SubcutaLinks to stay safe. Poor families like Savannah's have to work in the heat and count their food cards. The author also criticizes big companies through "Harmony Grove," a place owned by a company called Qucore. This company turns dead human bodies into dirt to grow orange trees. The company plans to use this setup to grow more orange trees, while the medicine itself is tested first on poor neighborhoods.

At its heart, the book is about sadness and how families deal with loss. Savannah and her father Derrick live in silence because they are too sad to talk about Dove. Her father even pretends a black cat is actually Dove's ghost. Savannah has a rich childhood friend named Lauren, but they are growing apart because Lauren is too wealthy to understand Savannah's hard life. Savannah gets help from Matis Wallace, a college student who rents Dove's old room. The strange circles drawn in Dove's diary finally show how much Dove was suffering from the weight of the world's problems.

The writing style makes the hot Florida weather feel very real and sticky. Although the mystery about the diary circles can feel a bit slow, the story gets very exciting when Savannah meets the cold scientist, Professor Elaina Powell. Powell does not care about poor people and only values her research. In the end, Savannah rejects this unfeeling system. By tearing up her sister's diary and taking in a real, living cat, Savannah chooses to have real hope and live her own life.

[Sadhana 🤎 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quiet and reflective novel that I found myself appreciating more as I continued reading.

Rather than relying on dramatic plot twists, it focuses on atmosphere, memory, and the subtle ways people navigate change and relationships. I enjoyed slowing down with this story and letting the characters unfold naturally.

While it didn’t completely blow me away, I admired the writing and the thoughtful way it explored its themes. It’s the kind of book that leaves you feeling calm rather than overwhelmed.

A beautifully written literary novel that I’m glad I picked up.

[Marlana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a wonderfully done heartfelt dystopian/climate speculative read and I'll be recommending this to everyone (and every Floridian) who is in need of a gentler eco/cli-fi thriller with a little hint of orange twist.

Thank you to Red Rook Press for sending me a copy of this book, giving me the opportunity to read it early and share my honest review. All reviews will be posted to my socials (Netgalley, Goodreads, Pagebound, IG).

[Shaun Leisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic piece of speculative fiction with technology and world events that feel both foreign and very familiar. The world is falling apart but by keeping the focus on the relationship between these sisters Francis steers clear of being overly bleak. A strong debut novel!!!

[Ryan Ginsberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the privilege of reading an advanced copy of this work and I am so grateful for the opportunity. The book was beautifully written from the first page to the end. I loved the world Frances has created in this story. An important addition to the dialogue of today in regards to climate change, technology, and the future of humanity.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

lyrical, eerie, and unsettling. set in a dystopian 2060 Orlando ravaged by climate change (think: brutal heat and rising seas), Savannah is piecing together her late sister's mysterious death — and the pharmaceutical conspiracy she may have died for. speculative thriller x meditation on grief and sisterhood. atmospheric, haunting, frustrating…but also hopeful.