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Lauren Carter

Swarm Kindle Edition

by Lauren Carter (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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In a not-so-far-off future of diminished energy reserves and collapsing economies, thirty-seven-year-old Sandy Burch-Bailey lives a difficult existence. She survives by fishing, farming, and beekeeping in a small island community with her partner, Marvin, and their elderly and ill friend, Thompson. As they wait for an overdue supply ship to arrive with medicine for Thompson, vegetables go missing from their garden. A footprint in the soil leads Sandy to believe the thief is a homeless youngster. Childless and aching to be a mother, Sandy narrates her story to the child, reliving her life in a city plagued by power outages, unemployment, and violent protests. When the girl’s life is threatened, Sandy and Marvin must come together to protect both the child and their fragile community.

Told in two storylines divided by geography and time, Swarm is a suspenseful and powerful debut novel about survival and coming to terms with life’s regrettable choices.

Print length

290 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Brindle & Glass
Publication date

September 17, 2013
File size

1610 KB
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Imbued with dark lyricism and a disturbingly credible view of the end of the world, Carter’s debut sifts through the lives of people existing on an isolated island, grappling just to survive a time of enormous social upheaval and change. Cassandra “Sandy” Burch-Bailey fled her crumbling city just before the power finally went out and plunged it into a mire of chaos and crime. Her practical, hard-eyed boyfriend, Marvin, and the elderly, ill Thomson are her only companions—until Sandy notices missing food and tiny footprints in the garden. Convinced a wild child is also on the island and stealing their food for sustenance, Sandy begins to narrate her story to what she envisions is a little girl while also putting out plates of their very meager food supply. Creating a quite convincing view of how our economic system and social conveniences might dissolve, the story is carried by strong, descriptive writing by poet Carter, further impelled by the sense of mystery around the feral girl and wonderment over what will become of the characters. A somberly melodic, literary foray into the current dystopian trend. --Julie Trevelyan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"...one of the more realistic recent imaginings of the shape of things to come." - The Toronto Star

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00DCB635A
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Brindle & Glass (September 17, 2013)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 17, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1610 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 290 pages

Customer Reviews:
4 ratings

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Lauren Carter

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Lauren Carter is the author of Swarm, a post-apocalyptic literary novel listed by CBC Radio as one of the Top 40 books that could change Canada, and described by Booklist as being "imbued with dark lyricism and a disturbingly credible view of the end of the world," and Lichen Bright, a poetry collection. Her second novel will be published in 2019, as will Following Sea, her next poetry collection. She lives near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, where she's at work on a third novel, a collection of short fiction, and another poetry collection, while also mentoring and teaching writers. She blogs about her own creative process at www.laurencarter.ca, which The Write Life named one of the Top 100 Websites for Writers.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

4 global ratings

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1 star		17%

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celticfrogreviews

Swarm

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 10, 2015

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Swarm follows Sandy as she and her partner Marvin and their friend Thomson struggle to survive on an island. The novel weaves from past to future to show Sandy’s story. On the island a mysterious girl is taking food from their already meagre stores. Marvin has no sympathy for the girl. They don’t have enough for themselves. Yet, Sandy dreams of being a mother. She desires the opportunity to do impossible mother and daughter things in a world that no longer exists.

The bees, the swarm of the title inhabit both parts of the novel and are a symbolic link to both what has gone wrong with the world and the possibility of hope. Swarm explores and all too likely scenario of economic collapse that leaves the largest part of the population hopeless.

Swarm reminded me of Margaret Attwood’s work in which everything carries weight. The story is built on the warp and woof of time and meaning. We feel Sandy’s desires and sometimes get impatient with her refusal to anchor her life in what is real rather than hopes that seem little more than a will-o-the-wisp. Then we see Marvin’s harshness and the way he’s been reduced by their subsistence living to focus only on what will help them survive and we hope that Sandy might succeed.

Between Sandy and Marvin, there is Thomson, a dying father figure, the inspiration to Marvin’s violence who rejected violence and yet refuses to reject either Marvin or Sandy. He is the one who forces a recognition of the value of death and it is no accident that he is also the bee keeper of the book.

Swarm is a challenging and occasionally a difficult read, but all the more valuable for that. It points to our present reluctance as a society to change. We are moving toward the brink, and Sandy’s story could be anyone’s story in a few years. The book is about not just the choices of a few characters, but the choices we’ve made as a species. I highly recommend it.

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CaLadyMagenta00

Richly detailed, engaging story

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 3, 2014

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The crumbling not too distant future where survival and simply eating enough becomes the focus, and the world becomes a smaller space where one group clings to survival. Instead of a world stage empire collapse, we get an intimate story from the point of view of Cassandra, a young and flawed woman drawn up in a drama as society falls.

Great well written tale for any fan of stories on the other side of the apocalypse...

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Purchaser1

Frustrating, politically naive, undeveloped characters

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 14, 2013

I usually find at least some little thing to like about a novel, but "Swarm" is a frustration of unlikable characters, gigantic story holes (like why doesn't the shipwrecked kid just knock on a door?) and nonsensical behavior. The lead character follows (like a puppy) the first man to scoff in her direction, pinning her desire for family on a spoiled trustifarian she's known for one night who thinks blowing up the local travel agency as a "symbol of excess" makes more of a statement than say, targeting Mommy's country club golf course. The lead character is impossible to like because she is like someone time traveled to the future from 1956. Frightening that this book is compared to Margaret Atwood whose dystopian novels such as "Oryx & Crake" and "The Handmaid's Tale" are brilliant, detailed, and full of wisdom about human behavior.

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Amazon Customer

Is it time to Swarm?

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on September 20, 2015

Verified Purchase

Lauren Carter's Swarm was a commentary to me on how an average, passive young woman can be pulled into anarchy and violence by just not acting on her own beliefs or values. Sandy is pulled and pushed by Martin but lead and loved by Tomson. She is used and abused, really, all in a sea of grey until she herself accepts responsibility for her own life and actions. The two worlds of Sandy - past and present - mirror her downfall and growth as the bee-keeper and father figure Tomson remains steadfast and willing to teach, guide and support. Bees alone cannot survive. They and we each have our own part to play but it is always in connection or relationship with others. Anarchy is based on individuals acting out against oppression but often based on a reverse oppression of their own - willing to sacrifice many to teach a few. Even on the island, Marvin is willing to sacrifice the well-being of the mystery girl to ensure his own survival. His beliefs and values do not align with Sandy's. Only when Sandy reaches into her own well of being does she rise above this and become the leader and guide, influencing Martin's choices and building her own "hive" as a new society struggles to re-invent themselves. I liked this book on many levels and feel I could learn even more by re-reading. It was a challenging read and one I did all in one day. It is a great commentary on where we, as citizens of earth, are standing right now. It makes the reader think about the age-old question: Can I make a difference? Is it time to swarm?

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