"A Gift Upon The Shore" (1990) is a post-apocalyptic novel that owes much to "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau, "Earth Abides" by George R. Stewart and "A Canticle for Lebowitz" by Walter M. Miller Jr. This is not a tale of gun-battles, epic struggles, mutants or invading hordes. Nor does it feature (predominately) male heroes who are are brave, resolute, resourceful and armed to the teeth. It doesn't even have all that much in common with the classic post-apocalyptic/nuclear war novel "Alas, Babylon" by Pat Frank which features brave, resolute, resourceful male protagonists and brave, resolute, resourceful female protagonists who take care of hearth and home while the men are off doing manly things.
It's a simple story about two women who struggle to survive as well as try to preserve what little they can of civilization and the potential for Humanity's advancement. Their enemies are nature (as well as their ally) and ignorance. Not a mutant or Russian soldier in sight in "A Gift Upon The Shore". It's a story heavy with melancholy and pessimism. In the end there is a triumph (of sorts), but there are many questions and doubts about the future. All in all it's an easy read and a fast read. When I finally got around to opening it up it took me probably four hours to get through it. But I never found myself growing bored or indifferent to the fate of the main character - Mary Hope (yes the name is intentional).
Published in 1990 this is a story heavily influenced by the time during which it was written. The Eighties saw the conservative Christian Fundamentalist movement surge onto the political and social scene in the United States. The Cold War became a very real concern (again) and the Environmental/Green Movement started to become a louder voice by the end of the decade.
I recall in the Eighties there were public book-burnings (though admittedly these were few and far between and often staged for the publicity by opportunistic individuals) and various groups began to push for removing certain books from public library shelves and out of the public schools.There was a lot of talk about the spread of illiteracy in the United States while others pushed for censorship of not just books, but anything that might be deemed inappropriate. The fear of Nuclear War and Nuclear Winter was strong and many believed we were heading for a war with the Soviet Union. It was simply a matter of time.
I could go on, but you get the picture. In retrospect it was no different than any other decade. There are always fears and concerns about the future. People are always convinced that we are on the brink of oblivion and nothing can be done to prevent it. But the fears and concerns take on a different context depending on the decade and the areas where one lives. Oh and one's own personal background.
M.K. Wren moved to the Oregon coast in the mid-sixties. She is originally from Texas. One might call it the "buckle of the bible-belt". The Oregon coast ,however, is most assuredly not in the Bible-belt. An artist, book-lover, and freethinker I have no doubt that she had become concerned about the social and political trends moving through the United States in the mid-eighties. Concerned enough that she decided to write a novel of a possible future if those trends continued unabated. I can't say that for certain without speaking to M.K. Wren of course, but I still suspect I'm not that far off the mark.
I make this observation because I think it's important to have a sense of where an author might have been "coming from" when he or she wrote their book. If you understand that it can help make their plot and characters more understandable.
I bring this up because there are more than a few who are disturbed by her depiction of Christians. I'm not defending her characterizations, but I am arguing that there might be an explanation for why Ms. Wren did what she did. Look back at the Evangelical movement of the 1980's and the so-called Moral Majority and then ask yourself if she didn't have a reason to be concerned.
However I also admit that her surroundings might have given a greater sense of danger and threat then the conservative Christian movement might have really represented. My wife is from Portland, Oregon and over the past twenty-five years I've spent many days and weeks in Western Oregon. It's a very Liberal area and like any area that is dominated by one group or philosophy things can be a bit skewed.
In the end this isn't a bad post-apocalyptic novel. It works hard to rise above some of the conventions of the genre. It's intelligently written and mostly believable. I have a few qualms with how the world is conveniently depopulated. The two women are very lucky - especially when considering what befalls everyone around them in the first few years after the war. But those things occur in stories like this. If the protagonists didn't make it then the stories would last for sixty pages and end with their deaths.
Out of print now, but worth looking for if you are into PA novels and stories. Whatever it's failings at least it has some intelligence and is trying to give us more than just Zombies and machine-guns wielded by muscular heroes.
Now if we're talking muscular machine-guns wielding Zombies.......well that's another thing entirely.
It's a simple story about two women who struggle to survive as well as try to preserve what little they can of civilization and the potential for Humanity's advancement. Their enemies are nature (as well as their ally) and ignorance. Not a mutant or Russian soldier in sight in "A Gift Upon The Shore". It's a story heavy with melancholy and pessimism. In the end there is a triumph (of sorts), but there are many questions and doubts about the future. All in all it's an easy read and a fast read. When I finally got around to opening it up it took me probably four hours to get through it. But I never found myself growing bored or indifferent to the fate of the main character - Mary Hope (yes the name is intentional).
Published in 1990 this is a story heavily influenced by the time during which it was written. The Eighties saw the conservative Christian Fundamentalist movement surge onto the political and social scene in the United States. The Cold War became a very real concern (again) and the Environmental/Green Movement started to become a louder voice by the end of the decade.
I recall in the Eighties there were public book-burnings (though admittedly these were few and far between and often staged for the publicity by opportunistic individuals) and various groups began to push for removing certain books from public library shelves and out of the public schools.There was a lot of talk about the spread of illiteracy in the United States while others pushed for censorship of not just books, but anything that might be deemed inappropriate. The fear of Nuclear War and Nuclear Winter was strong and many believed we were heading for a war with the Soviet Union. It was simply a matter of time.
I could go on, but you get the picture. In retrospect it was no different than any other decade. There are always fears and concerns about the future. People are always convinced that we are on the brink of oblivion and nothing can be done to prevent it. But the fears and concerns take on a different context depending on the decade and the areas where one lives. Oh and one's own personal background.
M.K. Wren moved to the Oregon coast in the mid-sixties. She is originally from Texas. One might call it the "buckle of the bible-belt". The Oregon coast ,however, is most assuredly not in the Bible-belt. An artist, book-lover, and freethinker I have no doubt that she had become concerned about the social and political trends moving through the United States in the mid-eighties. Concerned enough that she decided to write a novel of a possible future if those trends continued unabated. I can't say that for certain without speaking to M.K. Wren of course, but I still suspect I'm not that far off the mark.
I make this observation because I think it's important to have a sense of where an author might have been "coming from" when he or she wrote their book. If you understand that it can help make their plot and characters more understandable.
I bring this up because there are more than a few who are disturbed by her depiction of Christians. I'm not defending her characterizations, but I am arguing that there might be an explanation for why Ms. Wren did what she did. Look back at the Evangelical movement of the 1980's and the so-called Moral Majority and then ask yourself if she didn't have a reason to be concerned.
However I also admit that her surroundings might have given a greater sense of danger and threat then the conservative Christian movement might have really represented. My wife is from Portland, Oregon and over the past twenty-five years I've spent many days and weeks in Western Oregon. It's a very Liberal area and like any area that is dominated by one group or philosophy things can be a bit skewed.
In the end this isn't a bad post-apocalyptic novel. It works hard to rise above some of the conventions of the genre. It's intelligently written and mostly believable. I have a few qualms with how the world is conveniently depopulated. The two women are very lucky - especially when considering what befalls everyone around them in the first few years after the war. But those things occur in stories like this. If the protagonists didn't make it then the stories would last for sixty pages and end with their deaths.
Out of print now, but worth looking for if you are into PA novels and stories. Whatever it's failings at least it has some intelligence and is trying to give us more than just Zombies and machine-guns wielded by muscular heroes.
Now if we're talking muscular machine-guns wielding Zombies.......well that's another thing entirely.