365 Days of Books

In Z for Zachariah Ann Burden is either very lucky or very unlucky. The sheltered valley where her farming family lives has been spared most of the radiation of a nuclear war (yay!) but all the villagers are dead and her family who traveled out of the valley to find other survivors are presumed dead (boo). Ann has eked out a life for herself and the animals left on the farm; she expects that she will not meet another human again and sighs for the husband and children she might have had. Luckily Ann has been trained in canning and preserving as well as seed lore and farming. She has a village store at her disposal. Sadly, she has been brought up to serve males and to look for a future as a homemaker not as an independent person. Signs of smoke from a campfire moving slowly towards her are her fist hope for human contact but Ann is wary. She takes steps to hide herself from this person until she knows more. While Ann knows not all people are good, she hopes that this person will be good, a companion, a help, and perhaps a love. This person will be someone she can live and work beside. Zachariah is hard to figure out. He brings hope and conversation but also fear and guilt.

I really liked the end of this story. The plot and characters could have gone either way and I could not foresee their choices.