The End We Start From

The End We Start From (2017) is a dystopian novel by British author Megan Hunter. Set in an apocalyptic version of London, the story centers on climate disaster survival and the trauma of navigating pregnancy and motherhood in the wake of a cataclysmic climate event that alters the world as we know it. The story is primarily told from the first-person perspective of an unnamed narrator and written in a lyrical style that swings between poetry and prose. Interspersed with the protagonist’s reflections on her experiences is an italicized third-person narrative that reads as a creation myth for the apocalypse and narrates the development and implosion of the universe. Hunter’s first novel, The End We Start From received positive reviews and was longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize. A film adaptation starring Jodie Comer was released in 2023.

This study guide refers to the 2017 Picador e-book edition.

Plot Summary

The narrative begins with the unnamed protagonist about to give birth, feeling isolated as her partner, R, is off on a mountain expedition. As her contractions begin, she texts R to let him know; he reaches out to a friend, S, asking them to stay with the narrator until he can arrive. S feels uncomfortable and invites another friend, J, to come along. S and J ask her if she needs things like water and hot towels, but they also watch a football match, drink beer, and look at their phones when she is in active labor.

During labor, the narrator reflects on her experiences, memories, and fears and the sense that all these things are converging as she struggles to bring new life into the world. As a child, she felt a sense of foreboding about the state of the world. Now, she is anxious about alarming reports that sea levels are rising high enough to engulf London. She and R recently learned that they will have to evacuate the city for higher ground. She finds it ironic, then, that she hoped to deliver her baby at home in a bathtub, with warm water and soothing music. Her birth experience does not follow this plan; she experiences complications during labor, and S and J call an ambulance. In the hospital, her water breaks just as the sea swallows London. R arrives four minutes after the birth of their baby boy, just in time to hear that London is uninhabitable and the hospital must be evacuated.

The new family of three joins the fleeing crowd. On the drive, they discuss baby names. When they say “Zeb,” the baby raises his head as if answering. Although Zeb is the only character whose name is known, he—like all the characters—is referred to only by his first initial.

They reach the town where R’s parents, N and G, live and are only allowed in because they have family to stay with and a newborn. During their stay, R often goes with his parents to get groceries and supplies, which are scarce. Their long, arduous grocery trips fall into a predictable routine until one day, the men come back without G. The narrator eventually learns that G was crushed to death by panicked shoppers in a stampede. Her sudden death has a profound effect on her husband and son; both shut down, leaving the narrator to care for them as well as Z.

Z’s milestones—his first smile and laugh—contrasted with R and N’s inability to engage with the baby. As R and N withdraw, the narrator feels increasingly isolated from the rest of the world and connected to her baby. Although caring for a new baby can be difficult at the best of times, she finds pleasure, purpose, and fulfillment in the ordinary tasks of motherhood. This bond helps her cope with the chaos until their family experiences more upheaval. The need for more supplies eventually forces R and N out on another mission to find food. They are gone for two weeks, and during their absence, flooding disrupts electric and internet connectivity nationwide.

When R finally returns, N is gone. R does not explain and only says that they must leave now. They drive over the border into Scotland, where they live out of their car in the rugged terrain because R is afraid of the refugee camps where the recently evacuated have begun to cluster. Camping in the Scottish Highlands works well until Z gets sick, and the narrator insists that they must find a hospital.

R fears another stampede like those that killed his parents, but he agrees to get help for Z. Although the hospitals have very limited space and resources, they accept Z as a patient. When he recovers, the narrator and R argue because she believes that they will be safer in a camp with warm beds and medical resources. R reluctantly agrees to go, and while the protagonist and Z adjust well to camp life, R is unable to cope and leaves, claiming that he will only be gone for a week. The narrator wonders if he will ever come back.

The narrator befriends two other mothers—P and O—but P leaves for the promise of a safer place. Although O and the narrator initially consider leaving as well, they remain in the camp, hoping their respective partners will return. One day, news arrives that the flood waters are getting higher, and the camp must be evacuated. As the mothers and their babies are evacuated onto coaches, the narrator reflects on her experience with infertility, her longing for a baby, and her sense that even amid this apocalyptic disaster, Z is a miracle she can rejoice in.

Following their relocation, the narrator bonds more closely with O and C, her baby. They fall into a routine; O queues for supplies while the narrator cares for both babies. Eventually, O hears from a friend who can give them a safe place to stay. The treacherous journey to reach this friend requires crossing a checkpoint where they are strip-searched by male guards. They must also board a boat and sail to the island where O’s friend lives.

During their voyage, the narrator learns that Z loves the water. She reflects on the feeling that she, O, C, and Z are like a family; she and O even nurse each other’s babies. On the island, the women have their own rooms, and the narrator reflects on how odd it feels to have this distance between them. Although their first night there feels strange, the narrator soon finds that it is perfect. The house is on the top of a tall cliff, out of the reach of the waves. The narrator connects easily with O’s friend, H, his wife, F, and their children, B and W, who are much older than the babies. Together, they develop new routines and find comfort in a more stable life.

After the narrator begins to feel safe thinking about the future, her thoughts return to R. She decides she and Z will return to the camp in the hopes of finding R. While her friends suggest that this is foolish, they also understand. Thinking that it could be dangerous for them to travel alone, H joins them.

When they reach the refugee camps, the narrator learns that there are efforts to reunite families and return them to their homes in London. The flat she shared with R is damaged but dry enough to be inhabited again. A few weeks later, R arrives in a medical tent at a nearby refugee center.

Reunited again, the family returns to London. The novel concludes with the narrator and R surveying the extent of the water damage while Z takes his first steps, filling his parents with a tentative sense of hope for the future.