Exodus - Julie Bertagna

[Mark Robson]

In a nutshell Exodus is the story of a flooded earth about a hundred years hence. Global warming has continued unchecked. The polar ice caps have melted and sea levels have risen. A huge sea surge has drowned Europe and those who have survived are struggling to make their way to the great sky cities that have been constructed in key locations around the world. But there is not room for everyone. The sky cities have shut their doors to refugees.

It's been a long time since I last read a book written in the present tense, which marked Exodus as different from the opening few paragraphs for me. However, I was soon to find that the perspective was not the only fresh experience I would gain from this novel. Julie paints characters with many facets that sparkle in the mind like freshly cut gems.

Mara is a great tragic heroine, for whom you cannot help but feel, as layer after layer is stripped from her until her innermost hurts and fears are laid bare for the reader to share and feel with her. Julie then carefully reconstructs her, demonstrating the resilience of human nature and the inventiveness that can be born from desperation.

Although written for the YA market, this is a book that can - indeed should and will - be enjoyed by many adults for years to come. The quality of the writing alone will ensure that it will endure on the shelves long after many of the current authors have been and gone. This is a book that should be on your reading list.