The Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros

This short novel has captured by breath and is holding my heart hostage. So deceptively simple, it is poignant, shocking and haunting. It tells the tale of teenager Dylan, who lives with his mother Rowenna in a small cottage in rural Wales. This is their notebook, chronicling what happened at the End, from the rumours, to the electricity going off, to the nuclear powerplant in Anglesey exploding – and what comes after. Both mother and son have secrets which they confess in their Blue Book of Nebo, creating a realistic and moving family dynamic. It is often shocking, in a muted, numb way that accentuates the power of the story; it made me cry several times. But it is also ultimately hopeful. For such a dark story, I found that I didn’t want to leave Dylan and Rowenna’s world, that I wanted to stay with them, to see what they did next. A disturbing tale, but one that also shows the dignity, silent strength and resilience of the human spirit. I remain forever haunted by such young adult tales as Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence, Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O’Brien, and Brother in the Land by Robert Swindells, and The Blue Book of Nebo will deservedly be joining that canon of nuclear horror. It’s a stunning elegy to our possible futures and I got simply lost in the sheer disturbing beauty of it.

Firefly, 2022, ISBN 9781913102784