The Forests - Sandrine Collette

Genre: Literary Fiction | Dystopian Fiction

Release Date: 15th February 2022

Publisher: Europa Editions

Translated from French

Here, deep in the forest, Corentin found a home. After a life of being unwanted and unloved by his own family, he was finally left with a lonely old woman named Augustine who lives hidden in the depths of the Valley of the Forests, the place he would feel kindness and love for the first time. But when he finally is old enough to go off and study in the city, he revels in the adventure, pleasure and excitement.

But as sparks fly for him, the world is silently burning.

And then it happens - the burning becomes an inferno and Corentin barely survives, taking refuge deep in the catacombs of the city. But as he emerges, he finds he hasn't left the bodies of the dead behind him, they are everywhere. The temperatures have risen as predicted, the plants, animals and trees have died. The buildings that were once beacons of strength lay in ashes and the world is almost empty of life. The only thing Corentin can think to do is return to Augustine, to the Forests, no matter what awaits him there. 

"The world had always kept going, extinctions were never total It had always taken time, that was all. It had taken one or two or ten million years. A little hope, a little tiny hope."

This is a tale of quiet, terrible beauty, deeply evocative and emotive.

Throughout, it invokes a deep connection and sense of respectful fear for nature, making you think about the ground beneath your feet and the air in your lungs - sobering and full of wonder. 

Corentin describes the world around him from his isolated view, immersing us in this new dangerous world, making the reader deeply care for this stranger. The writing flowed seamlessly, and despite not a lot happening, there was never a moments pause from his thoughts and fears. There was a suspended feeling of timelessness throughout, reinforced by the absence of chapter numbers which left me lost along with him.

He was a murky character, in the blurry grey. He did abhorrent things, but in an unbelievable situation full of impossibility and pain that leaves the reader to fully judge his character for themselves. 

The end of the world is ambiguous, referred to as the thing - it could be a nuclear apocalypse, a freak of nature, global warming to an extinction level. But not only did we see the horrors of the end of the world, but the horrific crimes of humans and humanity too.

A gripping and haunting tale, this is not an easy read but it is definitely a memorable one. 

"There were no more stars at night. Well, there must have been, because the universe had not been destroyed... They just couldn't see them anymore, was all."

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Europa Editions for sending me an advanced reviewers copy of this title.

CW: Implied rape/sexual assault, abortion, swearing, neglect, death/corpses, animal harm, violence.