The Year of the Flood

Toby, one of the novel’s two third-person narrators, climbs to the rooftop to watch the sunrise. She used to be one of God’s Gardeners, but now she works at the AnooYoo Spa, which is located in a “derelict city” (3). Toby watches vultures plummet as they notice carrion and remembers the Gardeners’ comment that “vultures are [their] friends” (3). At this point, however, she finds it hard to believe their words. Everywhere around her, nature is taking over the destroyed landscape; what used to be the spa’s pond is becoming a swamp with frogs, while kudzu is spreading all over the once-perfect lawn.

In various places, Toby spots “a swatch of fabric, a glint of bone” (3), which remind her that these are the spots where people fell when they were trying to save their lives. Toby had watched them trying to escape from the roof, but she couldn’t do anything to help them.

Toby constantly worries about some kind of danger, although she cannot define it exactly. At night she listens to every sound, scared that someone or something might attack her, although she is unsure who has survived. Because of this fear, Toby keeps her doors locked at all times, but even this doesn’t soothe her, as she is sure that “every hollow space invites invasion” (6).