A gripping climate-driven thriller set in Sydney.
In Landfall by James Bradley, the world is in the grip of climate catastrophe. Sydney has become known for its soaring temperatures and increasing social division, and when a small girl goes missing, Senior Detective Sadiya Azad spots a connection between her disappearance and a larger web of corruption.
With few leads to go on and a deadly storm looming, Sadiya and offside Detective Sergeant Paul Findlay must race against the clock to save the girl before it’s too late.
Not only is this book a page-turner, but it also touches on several big themes making it great for an in-depth, meaningful book club conversation.
Discussion points and questions
- In the author’s thinking, Landfall is set around 2054. As the book was being printed Tropical Cyclone Alfred hit the east coast of Australia. Did the Sydney described in Landfall feel real? Possible?
- While Landfall highlights a bleak ecological future, it is also a police procedural. Did the dystopian and crime genres work together in your reading?
- Australian crime fiction is always popular. Why do you think we want to read about crime in cities and environments known to us?
- Water is life-giving. We can not live without it. In Landfall, water brings the threat of taking life away. What are we to make of this?
- The characters in the novel – no matter their socio-economic status - are all carrying the loss of, or threat of losing their home. What does this broadly-held fear add to the novel?
- Why do you think the people living on the floodline are so disdainful towards the police and other public services?
- There are many moments of kindness in Landfall. Characters, regardless of (because of?) their circumstances try to help others. In the midst of major disasters, why do people step out of their own comfort to help others? Why does an emphasis upon the capacity of people to be kind and care about each other matter?
- The 1%, with their homes in New Zealand or the Blue Mountains, believe they can buy their way out of climate and social unrest. Can they?
- How did you feel about the end of the novel?
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