Clade

Clade
ISBN: 9781926428659
Publication Date: 28 January 2015

A provocative, urgent novel about time, family and how a changing planet might change our lives, from James Bradley, acclaimed author of The Resurrectionist and editor of The Penguin Book of the Ocean.

Compelling, challenging and resilient, over ten beautifully contained chapters, Clade canvasses three generations from the very near future to late this century. Central to the novel is the family of Adam, a scientist, and his wife Ellie, an artist. Clade opens with them wanting a child and Adam in a quandary about the wisdom of this.

Their daughter proves to be an elusive little girl and then a troubled teenager, and by now cracks have appeared in her parents' marriage. Their grandson is in turn a troubled boy, but when his character reappears as an adult he's an astronomer, one set to discover something astounding in the universe. With great skill James Bradley shifts us subtly forward through the decades, through disasters and plagues, miraculous small moments and acts of great courage. Elegant, evocative, understated and thought-provoking, it is the work of a writer in command of the major themes of our time.

Read Caroline Baum's Review

It's been a long time since Bradley's last novel, The Resurrectionist, and now he shifts his attention from the grizzly past to a speculative future.

Spanning several generations of one family, Clade stretches beyond the year 2057, punctuated by environmental events we can already recognise: bee colonies collapsing, flood and extreme weather events, eco refugees, and global viruses.

The book expands through time and into space, suggesting new ways of living and adapting while raising profound questions about human survival.