The End of Men - Christina Sweeney-Bird

Debut novel from Christina Sweeney-Bird out from Harper Collins in April 2021.

This debut novel by Ms. Sweeney-Bird is due for release in April of 2021, a full year since lockdown took a hold of the UK following the gradual rising and growth of Covid-19 across the globe having started in Wuhan, China in January 2020 moving westward around the globe landing fully in Italy mostly in mainland Europe before hitting our shores in the United Kingdom in late February and early March culminating in the life-changing decision to go into lockdown and all the societal changes that came with it.

Now, S-B (a freelance writer from London who has appeared in the Independent/Huffington Post who started writing her book in March 2018) has done a neat twist on the virus thriller and while the Covid-19 pandemic has had no discrimination against who it kills, S-B takes the premise of a plague that only attacks the male, this means losing half the population in the world - and what are the effects of this upon the world in due course.

Author of The End of Men - Christina Sweeney-Bird

S-B goes to lengths to consider what will happen, 90% of the world's male population vanishes (much like The Leftovers or Thanos' snap) and it is left to the women of the world from not only finding a vaccine to save the planet, but how to shepherd the world back to normality - women have to take up all the labour jobs left by no men (rubbish collection, lorry driving, electricians) as well as taking up high positions in government and legislation.

The breakneck pace of the book (and I devoured this book in 4 days) starts in Glasgow, as a young and fit man comes into Glasgow with supposed flu symptoms - yet no matter how much A&E doctor Amanda Maclean does to stem his temperature, inject him with steroids he dies within a matter of hours. The fear grips the ward and Maclean attempts to reach out to her medical community to raise the alarm of a possible pandemic, she is shunned due to past indiscretions and ignored. Ultimately, S-B makes the case that it would not be avoided and the plague would have happened.

As a piece of science fiction, which as a genre always makes us more aware of our own world than we realise, it shows how the human race must adapt to make the world viable and liveable again; the writer also cleverly shows females of all ages, races and classes to show the extent of the pressure of all that happens - from losing loved ones and the grief that is overcoming to all yet the need to carry on is paramount yet each women gets her moment to shine. 

What is most pleasing about this book is that following some recent reading of books to review which were nothing but underwhelming this was a book that made this reader glad to be reading for pleasure, getting great joy from the experience and as a male reader a unique insight into the female psyche when it comes to fight or flee and strive to survive.

I first wrote this review in January of this year, early into the second lockdown of our nation. The most surprising and pleasant thing of re-reading my review ahead of the release this Thursday 29th April, is that this remains the best book I read during that lockdown period - ironically, looking into the possible threats of a true global killer where nearly half the population is gone. 

This is a book about the endurance of the human spirit and the resilience of the human heart in adapting to a major change in the social structure of our everyday life - it is a book that resonates with this reader still and it surely will be one of the book's of the years. It was a privilege to review this title and to share the word of mouth of this topic work.

The End of Men is published by HarperCollins/Borough Press on Thursday 29th April,

Exclusive Interview with Christina Sweeney-Bird, author of THE END OF MEN

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Christina Sweeney-Bird, author of the brilliant new novel THE END OF MEN published by Borough Press

What was the genesis of The End of Men and when did you start writing the first draft? 

I read WORLD WAR Z by Max Brooks when I was 21 or 22 and found it hugely engaging. I completely believed that the zombie war it described was real and found the breadth of stories around the world in that book very compelling. Then I read THE POWER by Naomi Alderman in early 2018 and found myself thinking, what would the world look like if women weren’t more physically powerful than men but completely outnumbered them? I felt that telling that story through many viewpoints would be the most engaging way to do it. I started writing it on 1 September 2018

When the pandemic took hold in early 2020, what were your instant reactions? 

I remember first hearing about it and not quite knowing how to feel. It felt so bizarre that the kind of news that normally belongs in fiction was now on BBC News and being emailed around by friends and colleagues going, ‘Have you seen this?’ Then, as I read more about it,  I felt total horror. Having done a lot of research into pandemics in the course of researching THE END OF MEN, as soon as I saw that the virus was spreading I thought, ‘Oh God it’s going to go global’. 

What research did you incorporate into your novel to gain knowledge of the different countries your novel visits? 

I grew up in Glasgow and live in London so those two settings came very naturally to me. Other than that, I find films, TV and plenty of online research tend to help with getting a sense of a place.

When did you decide to go away from the Amanda Maclean narrative as a lone central protagonist story and instead a tale of all women in this story?  

Right from the beginning I knew I would have lots of narrators, it was just a question of how many. The first draft had over 40 points of view which I then reduced down in the course of a heavy rewrite with my agent. Amanda and Lisa are the two most consistent POVs - they didn’t change much in the rewrite, I just expanded their stories. 

You start the story in Scotland, Glasgow specifically with such affection is this where you are from originally? 

Yes, I grew up in Glasgow and my parents are both from Glasgow. It’s such a wonderful city and has such a no-nonsense, determined sensibility. It made perfect sense that Amanda would be in Glasgow as the pandemic began.

What is your background as this is your debut novel? 

I studied Law at Cambridge University and work as a corporate litigation lawyer in the City. I always wanted to write and would start writing a novel every summer from the age of 15 (and inevitably fail to get past 10,000 words). As time went on, I read more and got better until when I was 25 I managed to finish my first novel which had taken two years. That novel was in a different genre and didn’t land me an agent but I had some encouraging responses from the agents I sent it to. I started writing THE END OF MEN as soon as I finished that novel, knowing it was an idea I wanted to explore, and here we are!

What is your personal Covid-19 history, how have you adapted much like your female characters?

 

I caught COVID in March 2020 which was challenging but also I’m very lucky to have only been ill for two weeks and now fully recovered. I think I have adapted pretty well to the changed world but I’m very aware that circumstances differ enormously and your circumstances have a huge influence on how affected you are. I read somewhere that we’re all in the same storm but we’re not in the same boat. That really resonated. I’m able to work from home (both as a lawyer and an author) and spent a lot of Spring with my family in Glasgow but not everyone is able to do that.

How do you feel the world will adjust/adapt (a central theme of the novel) post-pandemic? 

I have a fundamental belief in human resilience and optimism. I truly believe that people can adapt to almost anything. I think - no matter how the pandemic itself plays out - we will manage to adjust and hopefully keep our healthcare systems, the arts, workplaces and other industries going.

What are your hopes for the novel come April? And can you mention your relationship with Borough Press? 

I hope the book reaches as wide an audience as possible and I would love to be able to in person book events if it’s safe to do. Borough have been really brilliant. My editor, Carla, has been such a champion right from the first days after my agent sent the book out on submission and the publicity, marketing and other teams are so clever and innovative. I feel very lucky to be working with them.

What have you been reading lately as your twitter feed attests to, what can you recommend? 

I’ve been in an Ann Patchett phase; I read THE DUTCH HOUSE and COMMONWEALTH both of which I absolutely adored. I read a lot of romance and YA fantasy (my comfort genres) so I’ve read five Julia Quinn novels over the last few months. Her most popular series, the BRIDGERTONS, is now a Netflix show being aired in December and if you like the sound of witty, feminist, engaging historical romance you’ll love her. I’ve also become a huge Sarah J Maas fan over lockdown. Oh, and THE LAST ACT OF LOVE by Cathy Retzenbrink was gorgeously written and made me cry.

Any advice for freelancers or young writers out there? 

Keep going! So many authors take multiple books to get an agent and/or publishing deal so don’t be disheartened if it doesn’t happen straight away. Finish the manuscript; you can’t do anything with an unfinished book. And read, read, read. Both broadly across different genres and deeply in the genre you’re writing in. I think it’s Caitlin Moran who says that no one else will ever have read the exact mix of books you’ve read so make sure you’re reading lots of different things to make your voice as unique and interesting as possible. I find romance helps with writing compelling characters, thrillers make my writing more gripping, women’s fiction teaches how to pace well and literary fiction/memoir teaches you beautiful, illustrative turns of phrase. Different types of books help in different ways.

THE END OF MEN is published by Borough Press/Harper Collins on Thursday 29th April