Last Ones Left Alive: The 'fiercely feminist, highly imaginative debut' - Observer

(Paperback)

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*WINNER OF THE 2019 CHRYSALIS AWARD*

'You'll be terrified, fascinated and above all, uplifted by Orpen - a heroine to rival Philip Pullman's Lyra or THE PASSAGE's Amy' Stylist

'Fiercely feminist, highly imaginative' Observer

'BIRDBOX but make it Irish' Red

Raised by her mother and Maeve on Slanbeg, an island off the west coast of Ireland, Orpen has a childhood of love and stories by the fireside. But the stories grow darker, and the training begins. Ireland has been devoured by a ravening menace known as the skrake, and though Slanbeg is safe for now, the women must always be ready to run, or to fight.

When Maeve is bitten, Orpen is faced with a dilemma: kill Maeve before her transformation is complete, or try to get help. So Orpen sets off, with Maeve in a wheelbarrow and her dog at her side, in the hope of finding other survivors, and a cure. It is a journey that will test Orpen to her limits, on which she will learn who she really is, who she really loves, and how to imagine a future in a world that ended before she was born.

Reviews

From the get-go, it gripped me, and since the last page I've been haunted

Kept me awake until 2am. A triumph

Gripped me by the heart as much as it did by the throat

A riveting novel, often grim, even terrifying, but through it all I was reminded that even in the darkest times, love and human decency can survive

Brave, brutal and brilliant

Bleakly beautiful. A raw emotional depth charge of a novel

Crackles and sparks... the author's gifts of imagination and narrative verve are present on every page

Beautifully written and terrifying, LAST ONES LEFT ALIVE will leave you reeling, not only from its originality and searing vision, but also from the humanity of the relationships portrayed

Author Bio

Sarah Davis-Goff's writing has been published in the Irish Times, the Guardian and LitHub. This is her first novel. She was born and lives in Dublin.