The Chrysalids

 

By John Wyndham

5 Stars

Science Fiction

Young Adult/Adult

This review comes after a reread. This book was used in school curricula in some places. Not where I grew up. I originally found it in my school library back in the mid-to-late seventies. I loved the book then. Recently, I visited a local used book store and found a hardbound copy and decided to buy it. I started rereading it to check to see how well I remembered the story, and couldn't put it down. The other book I was reading got put on hold so that I could zip right through this one again. In my view, it is a great book. Easily one of my all-time favourites. As a writer myself, I appreciated how the story was put together. The story's beginning and ending resonate superbly. The pacing is excellent.

This is one of a few post-apocalyptic stories that I read in the same basic time frame. This is the one I remember the best. It's also the one I like the most. It is set in the town of Waknuk in what is now Labrador in Canada. Same end of Canada I live in right now, although it certainly isn't close. It is projected several hundred years in the future, when, for whatever reason, the climate is a great deal warmer than now. Society is rebuilding, and one of its major problems is mutation. Plants, animals and people have difficulty breeding true. They have made a religion out of trying to maintain purity. Terrific believable world building.

Our protagonists are David Strorm, Rosalind Morton and David's younger sister, Petra. They are telepathic, and they are not alone. Unfortunately, telepathy would be regarded as a deviation, and if their secret is discovered, they would be sterilized and banished to The Fringes. I won't spoil the story. You'll need to read it for yourself. I think it would be worth your time. 

For me, a great book. I'm very pleased to have a copy of this classic in my personal library and highly recommend it.