The Thinning by Inga Simpson novel is set in Australia. It follows main character Fin, in a dystopian future imagined where emergent genetic anomalies, fertility decline and surveillance collide.
The story is framed with a focus on the sky. Fin’s mother is an astrophotographer and her childhood has been spent in observatories, in the dark, in nature. This thread runs through everything she goes through in this book.
Teenager Fin is on the run with her mother, who’s part of a group fighting against the mainstream. Her mother’s people are orchestrating something big and important. But Fin doesn’t understand—and isn’t told more. She only knows her mission is to get to a certain mountain before the impending solar eclipse, and get a signal to her mother. However, she also has to take care of Terry. They are a non-binary teen also on the run because of their genetic anomaly. This deadline gives the impetus to drive the narrative forward. Slowly the broader world is revealed through flashbacks and the present experiences.
The Thinning’s dystopian world
As Fin struggles to make sense of where she’s found herself, processing grief, her history, and lost future, she and Terry continue toward the goal set by Fin’s mother. Pursuit and survival skills see Fin’s childhood revealed in slow fragments. We eventually meet her best friend from the past as the public converge on the mountain to view the eclipse in full totality. This friend contrasts Fin’s present with the alternative that makes up this dystopian imagining. It is only in the final pages of the book that Fin’s mother’s true goal is revealed. This finally brings sense to Fin’s confusion and sense of aloneness in the world.
As a photographer and someone who’s studied astrophysics at university, I loved the thread of astronomy that runs through the novel. The subtle but poignant changes to the world that have resulted in this future shine a light on issues that we are struggling with right now. With vibes of The Handmaid’s Tale and Tomorrow When the War Began, this literary speculative novel will spark reflection and impress with its sparse prose and concrete sensory detail embedded in the Australian landscape. Read more about The Thinning by Inga Simpson and add it to your TBR here.