Review: The Sunlight Pilgrims

The Sunlight Pilgrims
by Jenni Fagan

Rating: 4/5 stars

Following the untimely passing of both his mother and grandmother, Dylan decides to leave the failing family movie theater behind. He packs up his meager belongings and moves to a caravan in Scotland he has recently discovered his mother purchased without him knowing. In his new home, he befriends his neighbor, Constance, and her 12 year-old daughter, Stella. Together, the group get ready for what will become the worst winter the world has ever seen.

Most the-world-is-coming-to-an-end novels take place after the world has fallen apart. Instead, in The Sunlight Pilgrims the characters are dealing with how to adapt their new normal, a refreshing new take on the genre. The reactions from the town and its citizens feel very organic; Nobody is pretending to be brave or overly heroic and the world has not just suddenly fallen apart in the span of a few months. Everyone is moving forward one step at a time not thinking long term, because they simply can't. Dylan is an average guy who arrives in time to help Constance and Stella come into their own. Neither are conventional women, and although Stella is still coming to terms with her place in the world, their characters aren't seen as abnormal or weird, like Fagan so easily could have made them. This was not a story of climate or a story of activism, but just a story where these things are already facts of life.

The Sunlight Pilgrims was a very fun, cold, read during my day inside hiding from the heat of this historically warm summer. Not only was the plot itself great, the cover was also gorgeous, which always makes a book more enjoyable.