The High House – Jessie Greengrass

The High House – Jessie Greengrass

The location of the High House is unclear, other than it is a few miles inland and built on high rocky ground. Francesca, a climate change scientist and activist, convinced sea levels will soon rise disastrously, chose it for that reason and spends years fixing it up, clearing the attached smallholding, and latterly stocking it up with enough food, clothing, spare parts, and toys to make it self-sufficient.

The toys are a late addition as Francesca falls pregnant, but baby Paul sees little of his globetrotting mother, being left increasingly in the care of teenage stepsister, Caro.

In the coastal village below the High House another teenager, Sally, lives with her ‘Grandy’, who makes a living caretaking holiday homes left empty over winter. With the clock ticking to Armageddon, Francesca appoints Grandy as full time concierge at High House, and she recruits a reluctant Sally as housekeeper – Grandy is getting on and this is a long term project.

Finally the panicked word comes to Caro – don’t delay, get Pauly and yourself off to the High House.

Narrated in flashback by Caro, Sally, and a lesser extent Pauly, the preparation, disaster, and aftermath are told in personal and understated detail. These are resourceful girls, and you root for them. The novel is an excellent blend of a dystopian story of a near future and a study of relationships in a closed community of just four.