Release Day 3 August 2021
Hardback and Ebook also available.
Cover art by Daniele Serra
Winner of The SCKA 2022 for Best Debut
Shortlisted for the Kavya Prize
Longlisted for the British Science Fiction Awards
Shortlisted for the British Fantasy Society Awards for Best Novel & Best Newcomer
Could you condemn one child to save another?
In a near-future Europe fracturing under climate change and far-right politics, biologist Lina Stephenson works in the remote Rila Mountains, safely away from London State. When an old enemy dies, Lina's dangerous past resurfaces, putting her family's lives at risk.
Trapped with her vulnerable sister alongside the dead man's family, Lina is facing pressure from all sides: her enemy's eldest son is determined to destroy her in his search for vengeance, whilst his youngest carries a sinister secret...
...But the forest is hiding its own threats and as a catastrophic storm closes in, Lina realises that if she is to save her family, she must become a monster.
This Is Our Undoing - PB
'Beautifully written' Will Dean
'Cinematic descriptions are intricately woven with engaging characters, intense narrative, and delicate relationships binding the past and the present. The narrative explores identity, loss, family, acceptance, and the secrets that hold families together often in spite of the forces determined to break them apart. Then there are the ghosts, monsters, gods, and heroes.
An incredible story about the costs of accepting everyday violence, losses of privacy, intrusions on wildlife, human trafficking, the legacy of harm, loss, and trauma. It's also a story about family, healing, forgiveness, and possibilities.
It's a touching experience that just might indeed be our undoing.' Yvonne Battle-Felton
"It’s seldom that I’m stumped when coming to write a book review, but all I can think to say about Lorraine Wilson’s novel ‘This Is Our Undoing’ is that it is utterly wonderful." Read the full review by Gareth D Jones on SFCrowsNest
'Wilson concentrates on the emotional journey of her main characters, while orchestrating the weather to provide a suitably cinematic accompanying score. The end result is a well-worked and well-written novel with a protagonist who consistently engages the sympathy of the reader.' ParSec Issue 1
'Brilliant in concept and haunting in execution, This is Our Undoing is a fantastic first outing from an author whose work I, for one, cannot wait to see more of.' Jennifer deBie
'Take a near future with fascist states and extreme weather events. Take a woman in an Eastern European forest, hiding from her past. Add a sprinkling of unexplained events. Then you'll have an incredibly engrossing novel.' The Middle Shelf
'Reading This Is Our Undoing was a delicious reading experience. A world that pulls the reader in, characters you constantly fear for and a sense that anything can happen all made this a story I could not wait to return to repeatedly over the weekend that I was reading it. Haunting, beautiful, thoughtful, and surprising story that fans of speculative fiction need to get a hold of and gives us an author I think we should definitely be paying attention to in the future. One of the best debuts of the year!' Runalong the Shelves
