Facts and figures may tell us the truth, but stories show us what that truth feels like. And so, for our December’s Our Planet, Our Future book club pick, we chose our first ever fiction choice: Jessie Greengrass’s cli-fi novel The High House. The novel follows Grandy, Sally, Caro and Pauly, who live in a safehouse on the British coast secretly prepared by Pauly’s climate scientist parents. All around them, the outside world succumbs to accelerated climate breakdown, while inside the house, stockpiled goods slowly dwindle and they’re forced to scrabble around for food and warmth, aware they’re the fortunate ones.
Earlier in the year, we’d floated the idea of a fiction book as a ‘lighter’ read for December. Ironically, the novel was far from hopeful and hit just as hard as the other books we’ve read as a group. Despite this, we agreed we need books like these to share climate stories with wider audiences.
Are we prepared for the realities of climate change?
Sharing our first impressions of the novel, we agreed the fictional account made impending climate change feel much more real and shocking. We asked ourselves how prepared we felt for the extreme weather we’re already seeing across the UK.
In Harpenden, Station Road regularly floods and you need wellies to wade through it at times. The Harpenden Flood Risk Group was recently set up to tackle flooding in the area. The group has introduced measures to increase drainage and is piloting a shed with sandbags, water pumps and buckets so the community can respond quickly when water rises. To see your area’s risk of sea level rise and coastal flooding, you can check the Coastal Risk Screening Tool.
Parallels with current politics
A key theme the characters wrestle with throughout the book is empathy. Should they open their doors to those they occasionally see trudging along the road from their hidden vantage point? Would banding together with strangers increase their chances of survival or put them at jeopardy? Touchingly, Caro and Sally’s reluctance to open their doors is driven by ensuring the youngest member, Pauly, survives.
We felt there were parallels with some of the political narratives that have resurfaced recently. But in contrast to the depressing trend of battening down the hatches and treating newcomers with suspicion, one reader mentioned that studies show a civilisation’s success depends on the ability of its members to cooperate and empathise, as argued in the book Survival of the Friendliest by Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods. Perhaps then, there is hope.
Talk moved to Cory Doctorow’s short story The Masque of the Red Death, which tells the story of an uber-wealthy survivalist who holes up in a bunker to attempt to ride out the collapse of society. As fighting ensues inside the bunker, people outside it start collaborating. A positive message for those worrying about the future and humankind’s seemingly dwindling ability to empathise. Perhaps, even if society is wiped out, small pockets of collaborative communities will survive.
Do novels communicate climate change more successfully?
From politicians studiously avoiding the climate crisis to family members with high-fuel lifestyles, we agreed cli-fi novels like The High House might help others understand the reality of the climate crisis more clearly. Greengrass shares Sally, Caro and Pauly’s reality so compellingly, even those who are not tuned into the climate crisis cannot fail to wonder what they might do in a similar situation.
How you can take action
We discussed whether we could make small changes in our everyday lives, based on what we read in The High House. Here are some of the tips we discussed:
- Prepare for the worst. While we hope we won’t need to use it, it pays to be prepared. Hertfordshire County Council has information about how you can prepare for flooding and extreme temperatures. The Government also has a list of items you can include in an emergency survival kit.
- Follow the government’s National Emergency Briefing. Chaired by previous book club author Professor Mike Berners-Lee, eight experts gave a concise, high-level briefing on the entire interconnected crisis – including threats to food supply, health, and national security. Follow it on YouTube.Â
- Increase your home’s water capacity. We recently spoke to The Environment Agency, who joined us at the Harpenden Sustainability Market. They recommended increasing your water capacity to protect your property. Even if you have a paved driveway, adding a planter or pots can make a difference if your neighbours do it too. Plant native grasses instead of turf – they root deeply and create natural drainage, while turf is typically shallow.
- Learn to grow vegetables. We’re lucky to have many food-growing communities in our area, including FoodSmiles, which sometimes joins the Sustainability Market. Many members have gone on to grow food in their own gardens, increasing their self-sufficiency.Â
- Share climate reads with friends and family. If you’re struggling to explain to your nearest and dearest why they should take the climate crisis seriously, you could share this book with them. Perhaps it would be a good Christmas gift to someone you feel ‘doesn’t quite get it’?
Our next event
Want to broaden your knowledge of sustainability challenges and solutions while meeting like-minded readers?
On the 26th February, we’ll be discussing Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World by Katharine Hayhoe, at the Cross Keys pub in Harpenden. Book your free spot here. The book is available on Hive and Audible.
About Our Planet Our Future’s Environment Book Club
Our Planet Our Future, Sustainable St Albans’ landmark series of talks and events, launched the Environment Book Club in 2023. The book club meets monthly in Harpenden to explore books that inspire us to live more sustainably and think differently about the future. Join us and be part of the conversation.
Catch up on previous book club reviews
Explore our past discussions and discover more sustainability reads:
- A Climate of Truth by Mike Berners-Lee
- Prosperity Without Growth by Tim Jackson
- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Blue Machine by Helen Czerski
- Badvertising by Andrew Simms and Leo Murray
- Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth
- Regenesis by George Monbiot
- Five Times Faster by Simon Sharpe