This page is going to be a showcase for some of the wonderful, creative things GreenSpirit members are doing around the country. We are starting off with Noel Harrower from Exeter who has been Visioning Tomorrow and has recently written a novel.
Noel says “It was Robert Lowell who used the phrase In dreams begin responsibilities. The world we live in is full of challenges, and I have read in several places that there are too many dystopian novels. All this set me thinking that, as a member of a transition town group, perhaps I should try writing a futuristic novel that offers some hope for tomorrow.
I looked out of my front room window and saw a suburban street cluttered with parked cars. Many of them were parked in former front gardens. ‘What would it be like, if this road was closed to traffic and all the front gardens were turned into a common plot where we could grow their own food. There could be areas for children to play and adults to sit under shady fruit trees, with cars relegated to the back entries, or better still, stored in a neighbourhood garage, operating a car pool system. If all this was organised as a cluster housing scheme, those who chose this way of life could volunteer to share their skills in many ways.’
Most people would not readily agree to all this of course, but a growing number of others could. I thought that the best way to spread these ideas was by writing a novel. (I’d had a couple published before, so I knew the ropes.) Where would I set the story? Right here where I live, but this is a quiet, seaside place. Midland urban cities pose greater pollution problems, so I’ll write about them too. I’ve lived and worked in several of those, so my characters can go on exchange visits to learn how others are managing their lives through the storm days of further climate change.
To build a good tomorrow, we need to learn from the past, so my wife, Jenny gave the tale, its name YESTERMORROW”
YESTERMORROW
A BOOK WITH FOUR THEMES
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Sustainable Living through Climate Change.
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Welcoming refugees from ravaged countries.
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Learning through the re-enactment of past events.
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Reconciliation through a vision quest.
In this Eco-Saga, Noel Harrower explores the lives of several families who are aiming to live sustainably through the perilous years from 2055-2099.
The inter-generational novel is partly set on the south coast of Devon and partly in the Midlands, of a future state called Britannia.
At this time the children become the teachers and lessons emerge from the ancient past to help shape a way of living together through the turmoil of climate change. The story links ideas from the Transition Town movement to those of inter-faith explorers and offers hope for tomorrow.
The book can be bought at Best Books and through Amazon or read on Kindle.