We Are Unprepared
Fiction
Mira
August 30, 2016
Advanced Reader Copy
368
Publisher via BEA
Ash and Pia's move from Brooklyn to the bucolic hills of Vermont was supposed to be a fresh start—a picturesque farmhouse, mindful lifestyle, maybe even children. But just three months in, news breaks of a devastating superstorm expected in the coming months. Fear of the impending disaster divides their tight-knit rural town and exposes the chasms in Ash and Pia's marriage. Ash seeks common ground with those who believe in working together for the common good. Pia teams up with "preppers" who want to go off the grid and war with the rest of the locals over whom to trust and how to protect themselves. Where Isole had once been a town of old farm families, yuppie transplants and beloved rednecks, they divide into paranoid preppers, religious fanatics and government tools.
My review:
I must admit that my main reason for reading this book is that it takes place in Vermont, where I lived for thirty five years. I've certainly been through my share of super-storms living there, but now that I'm in the south, we have hurricanes and ice storms 🙂 There is basically no getting around the weather, but how prepared are we when disaster is looming? Ash and Pia have moved to Vermont (from Brooklyn) to live a more rural life. Their first few months after moving in, they learn about a storm due to hit their tiny town that very first winter. They both have very different reactions to the impending disaster, and this is at the crux of the story. Having dealt with storms in both parts of the country, I found this part of the book fascinating. There is also a sweet part of the story where Ash tries to care for the neglected seven year old neighbor, and the sweet elderly lady down the road. I do wish that the actual storm had started a bit earlier in the book, and that we had more detailed follow-up to what happens to the town and its people after.
If you tend to watch the weather channel waiting for news of any of these super-storms, I think you will enjoy this one. A great look at small townfolk and ways of preparing for "the big one". An eye opener in these days of global warming and climate change.
