Thanks to the publisher for providing a complimentary review copy.
Set several decades in the future in a very believable America, Linda, a doctor, her husband, a scientist recently laid off by the EPA, and their two teen children score a much coveted spot in a company town called Plymouth Valley. While the world outside descends into increasingly uninhabitable chaos the residents of this bucolic town are safe, breathing clean air, living in beautiful houses, and working for the eco-friendly company that owns the town in exchange for the privilege. And a truly elite privilege it is as this population aren’t just 1%ers, they’re more like 0.0001%ers.
But the Farmer-Bowens aren’t permanent residents of this utopia yet, in exchange for their life savings they are granted a one year trial period to be evaluated at regular intervals to judge how they’re fitting in, and they’re struggling. Their neighbors are unfailingly polite but cold and unfriendly, distrustful of outsiders, and unwilling to answer questions about town customs and traditions. Is idyllic Plymouth Valley too good to be true? And even if it is, what options remain?
A Better World is sinister and satirical speculative fiction with a delicious dash of horror. The plot is suspenseful and really keeps the pages turning, I couldn’t get enough of this once I started reading! Relevant themes of wealth, power, privilege, and corporate interest set against a backdrop of ever increasing inequality allow the reader a glimpse into a dark mirror of a very possible future.
Recommended for fans of When No One Is Watching, Don’t Worry Darling, and Midsommar.
That Bookish Life 