The Future (Biblioasis International Translation #44) (Paperback)
Other Books in Series
This is book number 44 in the Biblioasis International Translation series.
Staff Reviews
The Future is set in an alternative ‘French’ Détroit, a city with few jobs and businesses, almost no government or social services, and destroyed or damaged infrastructure. Remaining residents skew old, young, or criminal. After learning of her daughter’s death, Gloria comes to Parc Détroit to find her two granddaughters. Via her daughter’s neighbor and other acquaintances, Gloria obtains useful information; of particular hope is the large group of abandoned and troubled kids who live together in Parc Rouge. The Parc kids function as a weakly cohesive group. Some individuals behave with reckless abandon, but most are solid, intelligent kids. Gloria’s search, of course, doesn’t end at the Parc. This dystopian setting is fascinating, and as dark as Parc Détroit sounds, the novel closes with signs of environmental revival and with genuine hope for the city’s inhabitants - both young and old, and sometimes together!
— Kay WosewickDescription
One of Tor.com's Can't Miss Speculative Fiction for Fall 2023 - Listed in CBC Books Fiction to Read in Fall 2023 - One of Kirkus Reviews' Fall 2023 Big Books By Small Presses - A Kirkus Review Work of Translated Fiction To Read Now
In an alternate history in which the French never surrendered Detroit, children protect their own kingdom in the trees.
In an alternate history of Detroit, the Motor City was never surrendered to the US. Its residents deal with pollution, poverty, and the legacy of racism--and strange and magical things are happening: children rule over their own kingdom in the trees and burned houses regenerate themselves. When Gloria arrives looking for answers and her missing granddaughters, at first she finds only a hungry mouse in the derelict home where her daughter was murdered. But the neighbours take pity on her and she turns to their resilience and impressive gardens for sustenance.
When a strange intuition sends Gloria into the woods of Parc Rouge, where the city's orphaned and abandoned children are rumored to have created their own society, she can't imagine the strength she will find. A richly imagined story of community and a plea for persistence in the face of our uncertain future, The Future is a lyrical testament to the power we hold to protect the people and places we love--together.
