When the City Stopped

This story is set in Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales in Australia. The government wanted to build a nuclear power plant to supply the city, but many, many people objected. At first the electricity union went out on strike, then quickly other unions joined until there was a general strike. Without power the petrol pumps wouldn't work, nor the streetlights, nor the TV, or in fact a whole myriad of normal, everyday things. The area worst hit was the high-rise apartments in the inner city where Nick (thirteen) and his sister Binkie (ten) live. The elevator to the tenth floor is out. The fridge is now full of rotting food. Even the garbage shute can't be used. In the midst of all this the children's mother has a car accident and is taken to hospital where unconscious and without personal ID she remains unidentified. The children's father is out of town on business. As the oldest Nick feels he must make some decisions and fast. Should they go to school as usual? Should they wait for their mother? Should they ask someone to help them, and if so who? Should they even stay in the city where, hour-by-hour, things are getting systematically worse? This novel has the feel of science fiction, especially post-apocalyptic fiction, such as Day of the Triffids, On the Beach and Earth Abides. In those novels the whole world is plunged into chaos. In this novel the disaster is smaller involving just one city and the surrounding area. Also, the situation which sparks the whole thing off is less fantastic and cataclysmic than in those science fiction novels. None-the-less this book illustrates just how tenuous our modern life is, how without a few services normality and order start to break down. Nick automatically and instinctively takes a stand for what is right and how things should be, but many people dive quickly into self-seeking and even criminality. Phipson emphasizes the themes of communication, responsibility and cooperation as Nick struggles to make the best decisions for himself and his sister. Being able to follow the orders of a respected leader is another embedded message. The heroism of rising to meet life's challenges, no matter how extraordinary, also features prominently. The style is that of the sheer adventure story, but Phipson keeps the tone restrained and very believable. This is not larger-than-life pulp fiction. Some characters, such as the children's friend Jo Piggott, have an arch of development, but on the whole Phipson's characters do not change much. This makes the book a little more muted than it should be, though I do not in any way wish to imply that this is, as a result, a bad book. I certainly found pleasure reading this book and I am sure many readers, of the age 13 years and upwards, would enjoy the story also.