You Are My Sunshine
Octavia Cade’s You Are My Sunshine collects eighteen stories that cast a speculative eye on the future, seen through an ecological lens.
Ecological themes carry throughout the book, which also integrates elements of horror. In “We Feed the Bears of Fire and Ice,” which is informed by headlines from science publications, koalas and polar bears contend with climate change; the descriptions of Australia are frightening and dystopian: “Darwin is now called The City of Fire … we who still live and work in Darwin do so underground.” In “Our Flesh Was Bred for This” and “Tranquility,” dead and not-quite-dead bodies are recycled to benefit nature on Earth and on other planets; and in “You Are My Sunshine,” a scientist studying wasting disease in starfish receives a human arm in his mailbox. As more arms arrive, the relationship between them and the starfish’s predicament becomes clearer.
Despite the morbidity of some of the subject matter, the book projects a sense of optimism, rebirth, and improvement throughout. In “The History of a Coral Future,” coral reefs are a metaphor for humanity’s relationship with its own microbiome. The story looks back at a successful realignment of people’s environmental priorities: “They showed us how to change, and so we did.” Elegant, incisive, memorable writing is abundant too: “We had to learn to atone. A mountain has no use for words.”
The characters in these and other stories are unforgettable; the narrator of “Metamorphosis,” for example, explains that she is Gregor Samsa’s sister from Franz Kafka’s story. A contemporary schoolteacher who is preserved from aging, she guides an extended exploration of beetles and cockroaches inspired by her revulsion toward her brother’s transformation years before.
The imaginative stories of You Are My Sunshine combine ecological themes with scientific knowledge to create compelling tales of future possibilities.
Reviewed by
Peter Dabbene
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
