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Brother in the Land

Robert Swindells

First of all, this book was the most depressing thing I have ever read. I can’t say I enjoyed it, but it was well written. This book is set in the dreadful aftermath of a nuclear holocaust so it is understandably very sad. The book’s main character is named Danny Lodge. The book is his recount of events in a ledger he finds at the end.

Basically, nuclear bombs fall on a town named Skipley. They may have fallen other places as well, but brother survive. Other survivors come out of their homes later and they form a community. Danny and his father live at a shop, so they have food and water. They only share it with a select group of friends as they didn’t know how long it would have to last them. A van comes up through the town a long while after, saying for the sick to come with them for treatment. They were shot. Then people were poisoned. People were being killed off. Danny’s father was eventually captured and put into a van for hiding food from the soldiers. The van was blown up by some members of MASADA (this is an acronym for “Movement to Arm Skipley against Dictatorial Authority). So Danny and his brother go to MASADA. Then up at Kershaw Farm, settlements appear and people are encouraged to move into them. People did. MASADA gave it a nickname, Butlins. Then they gave it another name – Belsen. MASADA plans an attack to take over the farm. They do. So all’s well. Nope, sorry. Danny’s girlfriend, Kim Tyson starts worrying. Her sister, Maureen is pregnant. Danny thought it was wonderful news…Until Kim explained her fears. Hiroshima – The bombing. The babies of Hiroshima. Mutants, deformed. Her fears were proved right when Maureen’s baby is born with no mouth – it dies shortly after birth. So Danny, Kim and Ben run. They hide in an abandoned house. Ben starts losing his hair, then dies. He had a creeping dose. Danny finds a ledger and starts writing the story. I was quite annoyed with this, as there was no way whatsoever that a boy could remember, word-perfect every conversation he had. Anyway it didn’t stop me being enthralled in the storyline.

The book is excellently written. As depressing as it was, I couldn’t put it down. Swindells gave hints about what was to come so you always wanted to know what happened next. At the end of the twenty-second chapter, for example, it says: “Old Ben. He nearly killed me that night, sleeping like a lead weight on my shoulder. I wish he was sleeping there now.” This style keeps us keen, interested, always wondering.

This book was not to my taste at all, but I admire the style and use of language. The book has a very gripping storyline and great characters. However, I would have to give it only six stars out of ten, as it was much too depressing for my liking.