Political incompetence and male entitlement speak to our times, but it’s not enough to make up for an obscure setting and laboured proseHelp us judge this year’s Not the Booker prizeThere’s no faulting the timeliness of Sweet Fruit, Sour Land. It’s set in a Britain destroyed by famine and shortages of material goods. The leader of the country is a woman who churns out meaningless slogans but achieves nothing. The men beneath her – judging by a minister we meet called George – are deceitful, selfish, violent abusers of truth and seducers of women. You don’t need me to draw the parallels.Rebecca Ley’s novel is given urgency by the mess of Brexit and revelations of #MeToo – but it isn’t a straightforward future projection of our current problems. The prime minister turns out to be some kind of socialist who says she has nationalised power supplies and made things more “fair and equal” than they were during the days of a mysterious “blackout”. The memo about equality hasn’t filtered through to the rest of her government, however. George has been attending Versailles-style parties where tables groan with foods that normal people can only dream of eating. Continue reading…
Via: Not the Booker: Sweet Fruit, Sour Land by Rebecca Ley review – post-apocalyptic confusion
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