The Animals in That Country : winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award

Author: Jean McKay, Laura

Fiction & related items

Published on 8 July 2021 by Scribe Publications in the United Kingdom.

Paperback | 304 pages
130 x 201 x 23 | 250g

WINNER OF THE ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARDA SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAROut on the road, no one speaks, everything talks.

Hard-drinking, foul-mouthed grandma Jean has never been good at getting on with other humans, apart from her granddaughter, Kimberly. Instead, she surrounds herself with animals, working as a guide in an outback wildlife park.

Then, a strange pandemic begins sweeping the country, its chief symptom that its victims begin to understand the language of animals. Many infected people lose their minds, including Jean's son, Lee.

When he takes off with Kimberly, Jean follows, with Sue the dingo riding shotgun. As they travel, they discover a stark, strange world in which the animal apocalypse has only further isolated people from other species.