The Flood - Tapa dura

After months of rain, a capital city full of birds, foxes and humans is sinking under the floods. The rich still live much as usual, in their big houses on higher ground, but the poor in their packed tower-blocks are becoming more and more cut off while the fanatical 'Last Days' religious sect is recruiting thousands. When the rain suddenly stops, the government - eager to distract attention from a foreign war they have been waging - announces a spectacular City Gala to which the swarming characters of this visionary book flock.

Maggie Gee's bestselling novel The White Family (Saqi) was shortlisted for the 2002 Orange Prize for Fiction. She was chosen as one of Granta's best new writers in 1983. Her works include Light Years (Saqi), The Burning Book, Grace, Lost Children and The Ice People. She has a doctorate in the twentieth-century novel, and is a Fellow and Council Member of the Royal Society of Literature. She lives in London.