Georgia Nullgeben knew privilege inside out.
Daughter of the sector commander, she was destined for the very top, most likely by way of marriage to one of the elite families that made up the new aristocracy in the new Europe.
Until she met Mark Smith, a brilliant but ordinary Englishman serving an indefinite sentence for being on the very fringe of the resistance. No obvious hero, Mark just wanted his freedom.
And Georgia offered him a possible way out.
There had been an oppression upon Britain for a generation, since the disastrous declaration of war in 1939. They fought back but there often seemed little point against such overwhelming superiority.
The resistance took many forms. One of the brightest was the defiance of the Beat Kids; teenagers playing the hateful music from America, the centre of decadence.
Mark was sucked into that resistance. With a sharp mind for strategy, he found himself thrust into a world he could do without.
Through Mark's struggles, Georgia became involved in things she never would have imagined. It happened at an ancient and dilapidated manor house in deepest Kent; the new home of Barbara Leyland, the jilted mistress of the sector commander. That manor had seen much over the years but looked down now on extraordinary scenes as chaos fought order.
Just as the resistance fought the authorities.
Mark unwittingly built a team around him. How would that team react to an arrogant teenager in their midst? Closing ranks to keep Georgia out was an option, but that would depend on how they came to perceive her.
And ultimately what she could offer them.
If you're scanning the bookshelves for dystopia, alternative history, love story and thriller all rolled into one, this is a must read for you.
