Lidia Yuknavitch returns with Thrust, a unique dystopian tale, one much more than a straightforward calamity-charged premonition. The year is 2085, and a city known as The Brook is reeling from climate change. Iniquitous politicians have created a police state where immigrants are the scapegoats hunted down.
A young girl, Laisve, is supposed to stay away from impending danger by hiding in her father’s apartment as he builds a steel barrier to protect the city from rising tides; Laisve, though, has mastered the art of travelling through time, via waterways and aided by a talisman.
Travelling back and forth over 200 years of New York history, she forges links with immigrants who are building a statue to symbolise liberty and freedom. Jumping to 2079, meanwhile, the Statue Of Liberty is nearly entirely submerged; moreover, the statue provides a backdrop to Yuknavich’s story, as do immigrants and the way they have and are still treated. Can Laisve go back in time to successfully change the course of history, eradicate future turmoil and save lives?
At the core of Thrust are themes of immigration, climate change and feminism – all wrapped up in an intelligently affecting story that successfully walks the fine line between topical issues, history and science fiction.
Thrust, Lidia Yuknavitch (Canongate)
Price: £16.99. Info: here
words DAVID NOBAKHT
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