When a wave of light destroys Earth as we know it, two survivors, Ruth and Nik, hide and protect themselves inside the carcass of a beached whale. It surprised me to learn that it's a debut novel because it is so beautifully and skillfully written. It is a tale of love, loss and perseverance. Ruth and Nick emerge from the whale's bones after the apocalypse and must rebuild and learn again how to live, after surviving the end of the world.

I love novels which start with a bang, throwing you headlong into the story and daring you to catch up. Iain Banks’ literal explosion with the first line of “The Crow Road” being ‘It was the day my grandmother exploded’, Donna Tartt’s engrossing “The Goldfinch” with the explosion at the art gallery, or the ‘Call me Ishmael’ brusque opener from “Moby Dick”.

“The Stranding” does that, as we crash into Ruth, running to save a beached whale. She runs with a backpack on, in what could be Australia or New Zealand, desperate and sunburnt. The unfolding of the story from there is beautiful to behold, delicately handled and completely engrossing.

We know fairly early on that there has been, or is, some kind of climate disaster. It made me think of Leave The World Behind as Ruth meets Nic, who scoffs at her attempts to save the whale, under the shadow of apocalypse.

Climate change novels seem to be more and more popular, or I’m just reading more of them. Ali Smith’s seasonal quartet but perhaps most of all Summer and Bewilderment by Richard Powers. Ever since I was small, we’ve been talking about other power sources than coal and oil, but nothing really seems to have been done beyond discussion. As we see Germany flooded, Canada on fire as well as the other parts of the world being dangerously hot, cold, dry or wet, it’s clear that it’s urgent. We need to do something more, our world leaders need to drive the green options as the easy ones. Recycling, rinsing out yogurt pots, fewer flights and mild hybrid cars are not going to save the planet. The top ten companies responsible for 70% of the world’s emissions, need to do something at source. It’s too late once the plastic has been made or the oil pumped out of the ground.

There are parallel running stories in this, as we are told more about how Ruth got to where we find her in the beginning and at the same time, the adjustments she’s making in the aftermath of whatever she is going through in the present day. This telescoping forwards and backwards of time is a joy to read, as the puzzle pieces are carefully curated and placed at exactly the right time to reveal the whole picture. One of my bugbears is novels where there is a BIG THING that is revealed at the end and is consequently a massive disappointment. (God of Small Things, I’m looking at you).

The characters are well filled in and human, not always likeable but understandable and relatable. Ruth and Nic’s burgeoning companionship forms part of the foundation for this, when they disagree with each other and you as the reader can appreciate both points of view. It makes for interesting reading, I think, when there are no real villains or heroes – just normal people doing everyday things, one step removed from our own lives.

Ultimately this is a cautionary tale, an imagining of what is around the corner for us if we don’t sort out the damage we are all doing to the world we live in. This is part of the reason I think the story struck a chord with me – the best stories are the ones you pick up in every spare minute, over breakfast and at lunch and before you go to bed. It sits on your chest and keeps you company while you’re not reading, as you wonder what Ruth’s up to and how her parents are. It’s why it feels like such a loss when you finish a book, as you feel like you’re going to miss friends you’ve just met.

I don’t know if Kate Sawyer is going to write a sequel, a continuation or anything but I do hope she does. I’m pleased that this novel has been shortlisted for the East Anglian Book Awards with the winners announced on November 25th. Online tickets are available for free if you’d like to see it live – there are a few different categories and great books in all of them.

Thanks as always to Netgalley and to Hodder & Stoughton for the DRC, this book is available to buy now!

I picked up The Stranding many months ago when it first appeared on Netgalley. Initially drawn in by the cover, it sat on my TBR never reaching the top title despite my intention to always review at release. I glanced over a few comments on Goodreads and ended up convincing myself I probably wouldn't like it after all.

I was wrong.

The Stranding is an absolutely beautiful story, covering the arc of Ruth's two lives. The 'Before' and the aftermath of an unexplained apocalyptic event.

Having been fascinated by whales from childhood, Ruth travels from England to New Zealand after a slow building epiphany leaves her desperate to do something meaningful- help save the whales.
Yet the whale would be the saviour of this story. Sheltering from the apocalypse aside a local stranger inside the belly of a beached whale, Ruth emerges into a desolate new world.

There is immeasurable difference between the Ruth we meet as the story begins, who she was before and who she becomes. Her character development is some of the best I've ever encountered.

Although bleak and at times heart-sad, I found The Stranding was an uplifting feel good read. I understood Ruth's insistence on avoiding news reports wherever possible, having spent the last two years as we all did I've also found myself reluctant.

The Stranding isn't a genre I usually stray into but on this occasion I am glad to have ventured outside my normal.
Get yourself a blanket by the fire and cosy up for this one.

This is an utterly fascinating, uniquely heart wrenching and devastating book and one in which it will leave you floundering with mouth agape trying to work out what it is that’s so brilliant and beautiful about it.

A tale told in alternating chapters; the "before" and the "now", I did enjoy this style of storytelling. I did actually read the end of the book and then go back to the beginning again to see how well it all joined together,

I have been caught in a reading slump since June and this seems to have given me the push I needed to get back reading again. I found it quite thought-provoking and it did leave some pretty big questions unanswered. I would certainly love to read more from this author.

My thanks go to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this thought-provoking book.

Bereft.

That's the only word for it. I'm bereft.

I've finished 'The Stranding' and I'm overwhelmed with the emotions of this amazing novel.

I'm also wondering how and why it took me such a long time to get around to reading it from my Netgalley approvals. I'm kicking myself. There are multiple times in the past few months when I needed this book but had no idea how much. It's going to buzz around my mind for a long time.

Many people hate duel timelines. I'm not always a fan but in this case, the two stories of Ruth's life before and after 'the event' that changed everything forever, is handled very cleverly. We get to know her as a traveller who has flown to New Zealand to try to work with whales but it takes most of the book before we find out how she got there and what happened to her world, and everybody else's world. Actually, it's more true to say we don't ever find out what really happened but we can imagine.

Back in London, Ruth before the stranding is as 'beached' in her own life as the massive creature she finds on a New Zealand beach. She's a teacher, she's lost her mojo a bit, she has fabulous parents and a wonderful friend and a toxic relationship with a married man. In New Zealand, the end of the world is coming and she's on a beach, trying to comfort a massive whale for whom it's only a matter of time before nature takes its course. She meets Nik, a kiwi photographer, who stays with her and the whale and, through the freakiest survival story that you'll ever read, they survive something that seemingly nobody else has. I won't tell you how - you'll enjoy that for yourself.

Not everything makes sense. It seems that almost everybody the world over is dead but oddly other animals are still OK. Fish are swimming, mussels are spawning, rabbits and deer are running about the woods providing food for Nik and Ruth. That said, I didn't really care if the story wasn't 100% logical or rational. I loved it in spite of such things.

Ruth's life before and after is an extreme case of compare and contrast. The love she finds with Nik is an honest, wholesome contrast to the relationship with a controlling ex-married man, Alex. Nik and Ruth's adaptation to a lonely world of survival is deeply moving and will make most readers think hard about the things we take for granted. If you lost everything you can sit around and feel sad or you can get on with getting on with being alive. They are beautiful characters.

I am so grateful to Netgalley and the publishers for this wonderful book.

Not my normal type of reading.

I think that Kate Sawyer did a brilliant job of imagining this very dark storyline. Her characters taking cover in a whale was quite mind-blowing, but I didn’t particularly like the people and found myself begging for the final page to appear.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

This is book 18 of my books of Summer 2021.

wow!! What a reading experience that was!! I'd heard so many good things about this book so I was a little nervous getting started, but once I was a few pages in I didn't want to put it down!! You are just absorbed by the 'before' and 'after' storytelling style that talks of a catastrophic global event but never actually mentions what it is/was, and for me that really added to the magic of the story and how it involves you heart and soul!

At the centre of the story is Ruth! In the 'before' story, she's involved with Alex and utterly besotted. Putting up with sly digs at her weight, being at his beck and call - she's in deep and ignores the warning signs despite her friends and family being less enamoured of his behaviour. But as the time goes by, the reality of 'his love' for her shows itself in clearer terms and she finds herself going travelling to New Zealand. That's one way to put distance between them!

In the 'after' storyline she's in New Zealand and it's a very bleak, isolated world. She's on a beach with a dead whale and a stranger watching her. It brilliantly portrays the abject fear she must feel, alongside that 'must not give up' attitude that needs to find within to seek some hope in this new world. With the stranger making himself known to her, we then follow their struggles to survive in the situation they find themselves in.

I just can't stop thinking about this book! It has a storyline that is a little different from the norm with intriguing characters and situations! I found it to be beautifully written, full of hope alongside the despair of the circumstances that this book portrays and it's definitely one of my books of 2021!

Brilliant! Darkly compelling and a real page turner.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

The Stranding by Kate Sawyer is a captivating story about survival in the absolute worst of circumstances and follows the lives of Ruth and Nik after they survive the annihilation of humanity. This book is told through two timelines in Ruth’s life, the Before and After and I equally enjoyed both of these narratives. In the Before, Ruth is living in London and working as a teacher, but she is deeply unhappy and unsettled in the relationship she has found herself in and decides to follow her dreams of work in whale conservation in New Zealand. Ruth finds herself on a beach with a stranded whale just before the end, and in a split-second decision, climbs into the mouth of the dead whale alongside a complete stranger. The world they emerge into is like nothing they have ever experienced and together they must find a way to survive in this new life.

I absolutely loved this book, I raced through it in less than 2 days. From the very beginning I was completely immersed in the story and the characters, and I was desperate to find out what happened, both to the world, to Ruth in the Before and where her future with Nik would lead. I was so fully engaged in this book, that for days afterwards I have been thinking about it, so realistic was the story that I found myself not wanting it to end. Although this plot has a fairly bleak beginning, it is an uplifting and touching observation of how love blooms in unlikely places, the importance of the bonds we forge in our relationships and how we carry those we lose with us always. I look forward to reading more by Kate Sawyer in the future after this.

This book...! During the pandemic, much of my reading has focused on escapism. Escapism from the news cycle, from the four walls of my flat... The Stranding was very much not that - this is a book that will force you to take a long hard look at many of the headlines we've been ignoring, the same headlines Ruth ignored. But, in reading Kate Sawyer's brilliantly crafted debut, I feel a bit braver in confronting 2021 beyond. A book filled with love, and hope, redemption, and resilience. It will stick with you for a long, long time after you've turned the last page.

A well written story that I found hard to review as it was totally out of my comfort zone.
Great world building, excellent storytelling and characters.
The plot is fascinating, never drags, and kept me hooked.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Loved this book, one of many lockdown released dystopian thrillers I've read but also one of the very best! Spellbinding, raw and authentic, Sawyer gently reveals each characters flaws and finer points at just the right point in the plot to pull at our heartstrings. Imaginative, bold and brave, this has to be up there with the top releases of 2021!

The Stranding is so so beautiful. Captivating and elegiac, it was an absolute pleasure to read.

Ruth has been obsessed with whales since she was a child. But her life hasn't been the adventure she anticipated. A series of dead end relationships, and a teaching job that frankly, she doesn't love. When she meets Alex, a married man, she thinks he might be the one. But when he leaves his wife and moves in, Ruth begins to feel controlled and hurt by his not so subtle put downs. Finally having had enough, she buys a ticket to New Zealand where she hopes to recharge, as well as finally volunteer on a project with whales.

In New Zealand Ruth finds a stranded whale and a stranger, Nik whose quick thinking saves their lives. There have been hints of an impending catastrophe throughout, and when Nik and Ruth emerge from inside the whale's mouth, they emerge into a wholly different world.

Drawing on all their reserves of strength and intellect, they must find ways to survive their stranding. Falling in love happens slowly but deeply, with a connection neither have experienced before. They have two children, Maia and Frankie and there is such an incredibly moving scene at the end between the sisters.

A gentle story with a backbone of steel, The Stranding is understated, it's warm and wise. It's a story about love, survival and above all else, it's a story about hope.

The Stranding is a stunning debut novel from Kate Sawyer. It’s an emotional, engrossing read, beautifully written and filled with vivid description and believable characters you really care about.

The book is told in two timelines, before the catastrophic world event and afterwards; the narrative weaves seamlessly between the two. In the before, we discover Ruth’s London life, her friends, family and her relationship with Alex. In the after we find Ruth in New Zealand, having survived by climbing into the mouth of a beached whale.

I loved how the author developed and transformed Ruth’s character throughout the narrative. Ruth is such an engaging character, I absolutely adored her.

This book has several themes, for me, the most prominent being love. Whether it be parental love, romantic love or love between friends, it is beautifully portrayed in this book. It’s also about the resilience of the human spirit, especially when faced with enormous difficulties, and survival and hope. I cannot wait to see what this extremely talented writer does next.

This is a truly original story and I’m recommending it to all my friends. Would give it 10 out of 10 stars if I could.

I would like to thank the publishers, Hodder and Stoughton and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A parallel story of present life in London and a dystopian future on the other side of the world, #TheStranding is a novel of existence and survival but also a desire for something more- life.

I didn't know what to expect of it initially but by the end of it, I really enjoyed reading it.

A fantastic, thought provoking read. At the end of the world and as humanity dies, Ruth and Nik seek shelter in the body of a stranded whale and emerge into a new world, the only survivors. The novel had vague echoes of Nevil Shutes On The Beach, a story also about nuclear annihilation and which terrified me when I read it over thirty years ago. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the arc.

What a simply amazing and stunning debut, I don’t think there are possibly the right words to say how much I loved this book. Based on the synopsis had been looking forward to reading but I don’t think I was prepared for how truly original this is , how imaginative, some things are left unexplained, but you don’t really feel annoyed. This is an amazing story of humanity, family, hope, love and loss. The writing style is so lovely, this is definitely a story that will remain with you long after you close the pages.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Nothing like my usual choice, I had read a few reviews and was delighted to be approved for an advance copy of The Stranding by Kate Sawyer.

The story is told on two different timelines – before and after the end of the world. Two strangers Ruth and Nik who meet minutes before the event trying to survive by climbing into a whale’s mouth.

Ruth’s life before is completely different to the after, navigating life’s ups and downs with her family, her boyfriend Alex and her best friend Fran. Going from one relationship to the other looking for love. The huge decision she makes to go to New Zealand changed her completely. We see a different woman - almost like a snake shedding its skin, a rebirth, an awakening; her emotional and physical strength and her resilience is astounding.

Brilliant writing, great characters and a fantastic story that stirred up a lot of emotion particularly in the times that we are in. This book will stay with me for a long time. Highly recommend. Five stars.

A bold book, very dramatic and lots of twists and turns in every chapter. Clever structure, alternating between going back and forth in time: present day and ‘Before.’ We don’t know what happened - but Ruth finds herself stranded with a man called Nik on an island. It is clear that they have survived some kind of apocalypse, but there are other survivors somewhere but Ruth and Nik have decided to stay out. They survived by hiding in the body of a whale. An interesting concept for a book and an enjoyable read with a great storyline.