YA Review: Z for Zachariah

O’Brien, R. C. (1974). Z for Zacariah. New York, NY: Atheneum.

“I am afraid. Someone is coming.” (p.1)

And so begins a haunting story that unfolds slowly as entries in the journal of 15 year old Ann Burden over the course of one spring and summer. Ann has been living alone in her sheltered valley for over a year since “the War” and the end of civilization. One spring morning she writes in the old composition book she uses for a diary, “I was wrong. I am not the only person left in the world. I am both excited and afraid.” (p.5). She is wary and cautious about another person, uncertain if he will be friendly and safe or a new danger.

Science Fiction of the 1970s variety, harking back to visions of post-nuclear apocalypse, Z for Zacariah has been carefully set into a generic 20th century time frame. Although the story avoids specific references to an exact era, it still manages to feel dated, perhaps because the story is so simple and plausible without the Twenty-first century trappings of horror and fantasy. The world outside Ann’s valley, a wasteland where everything is dead and levels of radioactivity are not survivable, is not unlike the similar waste in Jonathan Maberry’s Rot and Ruin, but here there are no zombies. Instead, the dangers Ann and the stranger face are invisible, but just as deadly – radioactivity and the inherent weakness of the human character.

On the one hand, Z for Zacariah is old fashioned and slow paced, with languid descriptions of the natural world, often reminding me of the historical fiction novel, The Island of the Blue Dolphins because of the similar isolated situation of the female protagonists and the extensive descriptions of their plans and day-to-day work - indeed, the valley is not far from being an island that Ann is castaway on. On the other hand, as the story develops, there is an ever-increasing sense of menace and dread as Ann begins to realize the extent of the stranger’s paranoia and delusion. In the face of this threat to herself and her home, I found it difficult to appreciate Ann’s gentleness and passivity. Perhaps especially after having grown accustomed to the current batch of popular post-apocalyptic novels for young adults which have introduced me to some “super-empowered” female heroines like Katniss from The Hunger Games or Katsa from Graceling. Ann may not be a superhero, but she shows remarkable shrewdness throughout her ordeal and her voice rings true as she writes her story, revealing her secret hopes and plans and her struggle to stay true to her own inner moral compass.