Whether Violent or Natural

Written by Natasha Calder

Narrated by Kit Griffiths

Years after complete antibiotic resistance has brought about global devastation, Kit ekes out an existence on a remote island alongside the taciturn Crevan, who has more recently fled the mainland. With once-curable diseases running riot, desperate measures are in place there: Those not yet infected are given experimental vaccines, and those for whom it's already too late are culled. But Kit and Crevan are safe, protected on their island by a collapsing castle that holds a greenhouse and a well-stocked bunker within its ruins.

When a woman washes ashore-near drowned but clinging to life-the question of her fate threatens the fragile balance of Kit and Crevan's isolated world. While Crevan wants to keep her alive, Kit isn't so sure. And there's more to wrestle with: Kit and Crevan each have secrets-secrets they have been keeping both from each other and from themselves. As the crisis brought about by the drowned woman's appearance consumes them, the fictions of their shared existence crumble, and the truth begins to emerge.

Whether Violent or Natural is a startlingly original and thrilling novel for fans of Susanna Clarke's Piranesi, Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jun 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9798350848564

Natasha Calder

Natasha Calder studied at Trinity College Dublin for her first degree, and then at Cambridge for an MPhil. Her short fiction has been published in Stinging Fly, Lackington's and Curiosities, and she is the co-author of The Offset. She lives in Durham.