This highly acclaimed post-apocalyptic novel of hope and terror from
award-winning author Octavia E. Butler "pairs well with 1984 or The
Handmaid's Tale" (John Green, New York Times)--now with a new foreword
by N. K. Jemisin.When global climate change and economic
crises lead to social chaos in the early 2020s, California becomes full
of dangers, from pervasive water shortage to masses of vagabonds who
will do anything to live to see another day. Fifteen-year-old Lauren
Olamina lives inside a gated community with her preacher father, family,
and neighbors, sheltered from the surrounding anarchy. In a society
where any vulnerability is a risk, she suffers from hyperempathy, a
debilitating sensitivity to others' emotions.Precocious and
clear-eyed, Lauren must make her voice heard in order to protect her
loved ones from the imminent disasters her small community stubbornly
ignores. But what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something
much more: the birth of a new faith . . . and a startling vision of
human destiny.