Postscript
From Stonewall Honoree Cory McCarthy, a joyful, affectionate, read-in-one-sitting post-apocolyptic novel about letting go of the things we can’t change and holding on to the passion of our instincts.
★ “Simultaneously tragic, existentially terrifying, heartwarming, and sensual."—Kirkus, starred review
On the far side of a swift and unknowable apocalypse, a few sapiens are surviving off the last scraps of humanity. No longer recognizable as Cape Cod, the dunes of their archipelago are empty apart from regrets and ruins—until West blows in like a storm.
West is a prophet of instinct, the last amateur anthropologist, ever aware of being present in life. He can’t help but move through Ani’s rage, Karen’s anxiety, and Emil’s immense longing with curiosity and care. West’s unbridled love and grief challenge the survivors to defy extinction with the most beautifully human thing imaginable: a family.
He may even impress Death.
★ "Evokes Francesca Lia Block.... Give this to fans of Marcus Sedgwick, Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam Trilogy, and The Last of Us."—SLJ, starred review
★ “Simultaneously tragic, existentially terrifying, heartwarming, and sensual."—Kirkus, starred review
On the far side of a swift and unknowable apocalypse, a few sapiens are surviving off the last scraps of humanity. No longer recognizable as Cape Cod, the dunes of their archipelago are empty apart from regrets and ruins—until West blows in like a storm.
West is a prophet of instinct, the last amateur anthropologist, ever aware of being present in life. He can’t help but move through Ani’s rage, Karen’s anxiety, and Emil’s immense longing with curiosity and care. West’s unbridled love and grief challenge the survivors to defy extinction with the most beautifully human thing imaginable: a family.
He may even impress Death.
★ "Evokes Francesca Lia Block.... Give this to fans of Marcus Sedgwick, Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam Trilogy, and The Last of Us."—SLJ, starred review
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Community Reviews
Postscript, after the end of the world. There are a handful of people that wind up together on “the cape” or what’s left of Cape Cod. This story should be sad, but it’s so beautiful. The people are what’s left of humanity and they just want to be happy within themselves and the family they create. They know their existence will be short, so it should be good. In this concise book are vast life lessons. The following quote can sum up the lessons we as humans need to learn…”Death knows the moment this species took its false turn in its own evolution.
One day, a sapien likes a bit of wood so much, they use a stone to cut down a tree. Their environment will serve them now. They are done serving their environment.
"I am master," they say in grunts, and the clock of extinction comes to life with a great twitching tick.”
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