"After the Water Level Rose", a collection of seven short novels ("novellas") is the fourth fiction book published by Joan Gil, an American author born in Barcelona (Catalonia). His previous full-length fiction works were Laia's Takeover, Drama in the Upper East Side and the historic All Hail King Ramir, based on a XII Century Christian monk in a small Iberian kingdom who refused to be king.
The present book is named after the first story describing life and problems in a coastal city in the XXII Century, where many streets have been flooded by the rising sea level as a result of the climate change. Duckboats are needed to reach the dry neighborhoods, which are invaded by a multitude of refugees. The rest of stories offer a wide realistic view of some problems faced by good people whose situation and emotions are in conflict with demands of their social surroundings. Some of these personages will be able to express their feelings and frustrations in the XIX Century Germany, they will try to survive a dangerous liaison in an office, they will ponder the circumstances of a strange murder in a small rural town. The readers will also have an opportunity to judge the steps taken by an unfortunate cripple to break out of social isolation and relive the conquest of Barcelona by a fascist regime at the end of the Civil War in 1939, as well as the cruelty descended on a non-political couple as a consequence. In its basic elements, it is a true story.
Last but certainly not least, the final narration is an account of how an unnoticed spaceship from a far-away planet discovered the Earth without being noticed and undertook a study of mankind and of our terrestrial arrangements. Did they get everything right?
The present book is named after the first story describing life and problems in a coastal city in the XXII Century, where many streets have been flooded by the rising sea level as a result of the climate change. Duckboats are needed to reach the dry neighborhoods, which are invaded by a multitude of refugees. The rest of stories offer a wide realistic view of some problems faced by good people whose situation and emotions are in conflict with demands of their social surroundings. Some of these personages will be able to express their feelings and frustrations in the XIX Century Germany, they will try to survive a dangerous liaison in an office, they will ponder the circumstances of a strange murder in a small rural town. The readers will also have an opportunity to judge the steps taken by an unfortunate cripple to break out of social isolation and relive the conquest of Barcelona by a fascist regime at the end of the Civil War in 1939, as well as the cruelty descended on a non-political couple as a consequence. In its basic elements, it is a true story.
Last but certainly not least, the final narration is an account of how an unnoticed spaceship from a far-away planet discovered the Earth without being noticed and undertook a study of mankind and of our terrestrial arrangements. Did they get everything right?
