Not Alone

By: Sarah K. Jackson

Narrated by: Helen Keeley

Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

IN A DYING WORLD, HOW FAR WILL A MOTHER GO TO SAVE HER CHILD?

'Not Alone kept me breathless with tension.' - Emma Donoghue, bestselling author of Room
'Intensely moving, genuinely gripping, plausible and absorbing' - Charlotte Mendelson, author of The Exhibitionist

Five years ago, a toxic microplastics storm killed most of the population. Now Katie, a young mother, must forage and hunt the few surviving animals for meat as she attempts to feed her little boy, Harry.

At a time when stepping outside could kill you, Harry is kept indoors at all costs, never venturing beyond the door to their one-bedroom flat. The bodies begin to build up around them and layers of poisonous dust hang heavily in the air, seeping into the soil and slowly killing anything attempting to cling onto the natural world.

Then, after years without human contact, Katie and Harry are terrified by the unwelcome arrival of another survivor. Katie realises she must undertake a previously unthinkable journey in search of the man she was supposed to marry and a new life for her son.

But outside their safe haven, Katie and Harry encounter a dangerous world that is forever changed . . .

©2023 Sarah K. Jackson (P)2023 Macmillan Publishers International Limited

Critic reviews

The emotionally wrenching story of a young mother’s fight to save her young son as they struggle across a toxic and hostile world. The tension never lets up. Utterly believable, always compelling, and deeply moving. I loved it. (Ian Irvine, author of A Shadow on the Glass)

A gutwrenching, whiteknuckle postapocalyptic thriller, a story of love and perseverance. (Gabriel Tallent, New York Times bestselling author of My Absolute Darling)

Harrowing and achingly human, Not Alone is a sharp exploration of environmental apocalypse — and a celebration of pure, boundless love that can survive anything. This triumphant debut finds hope in the darkest places, and it made me want to be a better person. (Allison Epstein, author of A Tip for the Hangman)

Sarah K. Jackson’s Not Alone is an ode to ferocious power of motherhood, even in the face of Earth’s utter devastation. Part dire warning, part love song, Not Alone explores how, like a tree bending toward sunlight, life may endure if our worst climate nightmares become reality. Haunting, endearing, and captivating. (Caroline Woods, author of The Cigarette Girl)

Tense, brutal, and tender, Not Alone cuts to the core of how and why we survive. Jackson gives readers a truly harrowing adventure about the pull of light in the darkest hour. (Erika Swyler, bestselling author of The Book of Speculation)