We are very excited to announce the recent publication of When Everything Falls Apart by Simon Heath - Book One of a trilogy.
This is Curiosity House Books Publishing first fiction publication.
When Everything Falls Apart - Book One: Brian and Karen are in the midst of mid-life crises, their marriage falling apart, the things that used to drive them suddenly without meaning. It’s bad time for a second pregnancy, a bad time for Brian to quit his job and build an off-grid house in the country. And then the power goes out. And stays out. When a massive solar flare knocks out the world’s electrical grids, Brian, an extremely pregnant Karen and their 8 year-old daughter Robin find themselves in the middle of a city that is wholly unprepared for an emergency of this magnitude. They decide to move to their off-grid house north of Toronto, but when their car is stolen they must decide between trying to survive in an increasingly desperate city or paddle their way up the Humber River to get to their house in the country. When Everything Falls Apart is the story of a family’s epic canoe trip and their struggle to find each other along the way. When Everything Falls Apart - The Trilogy When Everything Falls Apart is a trilogy of books built around a single event – the collapse of the majority of the world’s electrical grids. The trilogy is the story of a family and their struggle to survive in a world without power. Brian, Karen and eight-year old Robin live a comfortable, modern life in Toronto. Karen works in Business Process Outsourcing, a corporate role focused on process and efficiency. She is also 34 weeks into an unplanned pregnancy. Brian recently left his job as a Water Infrastructure Engineer with the City of Toronto. He used a severance package offer to fulfill his dream of buying land in the country and building an off-grid home. He left the job before they knew Karen was pregnant. Their relationship has become increasingly acrimonious over the years as Karen has become more and more involved in her career and Brian has become more and more involved in building a new, different life in the country. Robin is eight years old, first one up in the morning, smart as a whip, and caught in between. Increasingly, she is siding with her father with whom she has spent weekends fishing and canoeing the past few years while Karen finished an executive MBA. Then the power goes out. And stays out. When the power goes out, the world shrinks. With no internet, no cell phones, no television, no available gas, no running water, no lights and no grocery stores, priorities change. The world shrinks to the people and things that immediately surround the family. There are the basics of survival: enough food for three meals a day; drinking water; dealing with an end of term pregnancy. But there are broader questions as well. How does this family, this failing marriage, respond to the crisis? Who do they trust? Do communities join together or turn on one another? Is there chaos or structure? What role does morality play in a world without power? Who will live and who will die?
Book cover art by Steve McDonald. Book design by Jennifer Harvey. Printed by Friesens Press in Canada.
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