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2024: Sometimes we must look to the past to survive the future.
2024: Sometimes we must look to the past to survive the future.
Q wants a simpler and safer life. His work as a quantum cryptographer for the government has led him to believe a crisis is imminent for civilisation and he’s looking for somewhere to ride out what’s ahead.
He buys a ruined farmhouse in Cornwall and begins to build his own self-sufficient haven. Over the course of this quest he meets the eccentric characters who already live on the moors nearby – including the park ranger in charge of the reintroduced lynxes and aurochs that roam the area; a holy man waiting for the second coming on top of a nearby hill; an Arthurian knight on horseback and the amorous ghost of an Edwardian woman who haunts the farmhouse.
As life in the cities gets more complicated, and our systems of electronic control begin to fall apart, Q flourishes in the wild Cornish countryside. His new way of life brings him back in tune with his teenage children, his ex-wife, and his own sense of who he is. He also grows close to Eva, energetic and enchanting, who is committed to her own quest for love and meaning.
Cornwall
“The sky was gris de lin. Above the black rocks of Merlyn’s Tor the same two bedraggled white-tailed eagles wheeled, Charcoal clouds lowered upon it with the menace of rain.”
“On the hillside an old woman in rags was chanting incantations over a pile of smoking leaves that she was burning on a rock.”
“It had been an impulse, In fact I had driven out with no intention of finding a house in the wilderness.”
Destination/location: Cornwall Author/guide: Louis de Bernières Departure Time: Future
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