The book opens as a fire sweeps through the forest across the bay, and with the fears that there will be no more wood to gather. Living has become this basic, but as the book progresses, and their pasts lurk about the edges, or appear out of the devastation, Jaydie and Julian must face the possibility that their tiny community has a future. Given that so much death has formed their characters, it is a curious aspect of this little book that all of the death occurs out of sight. It is as if the author was somehow avoiding its severity. Yet, in the lives of the survivors, they must work together and even find desperate solace and comfort in each other's arms.
Death is off-stage, but sex is certainly on stage.
Lerner seems to be assembling a tale of mixed relationships and the comfort we seek from each other. There is a sad edge to this, of course, in the shadow of the end of the world. Most of the characters are well drawn and distinct. Julian, especially, is a good narrator, given to fascination and denial, strengths and weaknesses. Their knowledge of the End is strangely absent, but the reader's mind may reel at the imagined possibilities.