The End Of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird
Published 29th April by Harper Collins UK
I read this book at least three months ago and have read many more since but it just won’t leave me and I think about it often.
The End of Men is a remarkably prescient work of fiction by Christina Sweeney-Baird. Written in 2018-2019 her story originally even began with a pandemic originating from a pangolin – the exact mammal that scientists studying the Covid-19 outbreak have said plausibly could have contracted and spread the coronavirus to humans. She ended up changing that detail in her book to avoid looking like she was copying real life!
The End of Men is set in a world where a dangerous new virus is rapidly spreading, starting in Scotland, but quickly spreading throughout the world. However, it only affects men. What would the world look like if one gender was wiped out completely?
The story is told from the points of view of many different characters. Some who appear regularly such as Dr Amanda MacLean, the doctor who initially raised the alarm and was dismissed as hysterical; Catherine, a social historian who wants to document human stories through the plague and Elizabeth who is leading the search for a vaccine. Other characters appear and tell their story in just one chapter. It is brilliantly and compellingly written.
There are a plethora of authors writing ‘pandemic’ novels now and I almost feel sorry for Sweeney-Baird as I’m sure there are many who want to read about anything but a pandemic right now. For me it made me feel better about the whole real life situation. The outbreak in the book is far quicker and more devastating than what we are living through. However there are some real parallels; mask wearing, social distancing, staying at home, the rush to find an effective vaccine. I found it fascinating that concepts such as social distancing which I have never heard of a year ago featured in a book written before Covid-19. I would love to hear what others think.
