Book Review: "Dreamland" by Rosa Rankin-Gee

Normally, I would say that fiction set in the future has ‘all been done before’ and that there are no more stories to tell. When it comes down to “Dreamland” though, I think that there has not yet been a book set in the not so distant future quite like this one. Strangely different from its title, “Dreamland” has absolutely nothing to do with the atmosphere or subjects of the book but instead it is regarding a specific place within the book. Instead, “Dreamland” is a cross between a migration novel and the post-apocalyptic nightmare of hell in a hand basket. However much I thought this book was dark and grim to the extreme, it was also extremely well written and is set in our own near future, to become one of our generation’s modern classics alike to “1984” and “Brave New World”. A future which is possible, which is plausible and yet, one we can only imagine in our darkest thoughts.

A book about a mother and her two children (in which one of the children is the prime narrator) who move from their semi-comfortable home in London to the desolation of a seaside town of Britain. At this time, it is clear that the entire country has been laid to waste by the filthy rich and that people have been reduced to stealing out of necessity rather than want. In fact, it is an idea that everyone in this seaside town seems to have - stealing food and goods to survive. This is mainly because there are no jobs available. When the brother of the narrator, J.D wants to spend time with a new arrival within their family - a child - the entire book becomes this sort of love letter in its style of writing. I believe that this book is less of a warning and more of a representation of something that could actually, in all plausibility, happen to us in the not so distant future alongside the rising levels of water, the loss of income, the inability to buy a house and the deaths of people at the bottom caused by the people at the top.

One of the themes in this book that I thoroughly enjoyed and want to talk about is the theme of justice and morality. When the stealing is described in the book, the reader sees that most people steal what they need out of the requirement to survive. Whereas, one could argue that there would be a population of the book who would steal to sell on certain things. And, not so far from our own times we see that people today within the pandemic are themselves, stealing food supplies to survive and yet we also have people who steal things in order to sell them on and make a profit. It is a strange argument which is explored in different ways throughout the novel. Another theme is abuse and violence. When the narrator’s mother meets a man called Liam, it is seen that she is happy and contented. Liam seems to adore the kids and be a proper family man until he loses his job and starts drinking. After Liam, the mother starts going out with a man about half her age or less and he is very abusive towards her - hitting her and beating her. But what the narrator sees is a man who is incredibly insecure about his own image. You are made to think whether the abused has become the abuser in this case.

In conclusion, “Dreamland” is a psychological thriller extended into the realm of near-Sci-Fi whilst retaining an uncomfortable sense of realism. From J.D to Blue and throughout the characters in the novel is a pervading tone of survival. Whether this is through stealing, illegal ways to make money or even prostitution - there are many ways to survive, the only question is of whether anyone will or not.