The Last Town on Earth (Paperback, New Ed)

A progressive community buckles under a double whammy: the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic and the hatreds stirred by American participation in WWI.Deep in the evergreens north of Seattle, a company town revolves around its timber mill. Owner Charles Worthy founded Commonwealth in 1916, and two years later, the town is thriving. The workers own their homes and set the rules, dispensing with police. After nearby Timber Falls is hit by the flu, a majority of Commonwealth's residents decide to quarantine the town. Armed volunteers guard the one access road. Worthy's adopted son, 16-year-old Philip, is on guard duty with Graham, an older man he regards as a big brother, when a disheveled soldier emerges from the woods and ignores orders to stop. Graham shoots him dead. Some days later, Philip is the lone sentry when a second soldier appears. After a skirmish, Philip and the soldier are detained by another guard, also deemed a possible carrier. Meanwhile, Commonwealth has its first flu death: a Canadian who snuck into Timber Falls for some liquor. The sickness travels with astonishing speed; fear and suspicion infect the town along with the epidemic. As supplies dwindle, the store and community gardens are plundered. Mullen has a good premise for a disaster story, but a fatal weakness for melodrama. Graham kills the imprisoned soldier, believing him to be the original carrier. Philip, back home but now stricken himself, rises from his sickbed to confront Graham, then a delegation of lawmen and goons from Timber Falls forces its way into town to arrest draft-dodgers, including the sick and contagious.Mullen's debut gets mileage out of the gruesome epidemic and contains some interesting historical nuggets, but it fails to mesh its grim subject matter with convincing individual narratives. (Kirkus Reviews)

Set against the dual backdrop of World War I and the devastating 1918 influenza epidemic, 'The Last Town On Earth' is a brilliantly drawn tale of morality and patriotism in a time of upheaval. Deep in the woods of Washington lies the mill town of Commonwealth, a new community founded on progressive ideals, and a refuge for workers who have fled the labor violence in the surrounding towns. When rumours spread of a mysterious illness that is killing people at an alarming rate, the people of the uninfected Commonwealth vote to block all roads into town and post armed guards to prevent any outsiders from entering. One day two guards are confronted with a moral dilemma. A starving and apparently ill soldier attempts to enter the town, begging them for food and shelter. Should the guards admit him, possibly putting their families at risk? Or should they place their lives above his and let him die in the woods? The choice they make - and the reaction it inspires in their town and beyond - sets into motion a series of events that threaten to tear Commonwealth apart. A sweeping cinematic novel, 'The Last Town on Earth' powerfully grapples with the tensions of individual safety and social responsibility, of moral obligation and duty in the face of forces larger than oneself.

General

Imprint:	HarperPerennial
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	June 2007
First published:	August 2007
Authors:	Thomas Mullen
Dimensions:	198 x 129 x 25mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - B-format
Pages:	400
Edition:	New Ed
ISBN-13:	978-0-00-723500-1
Categories:	Books > Fiction > General & literary fiction > Modern fiction
LSN:	0-00-723500-3
Barcode:	9780007235001

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