No name. No race. No nationality. The survivor of the perfect catastrophe struggles to preserve herself and her hope that she may be found — by humans.

“I am female, thirty-two, alone in the last speck of the world. My name, my race and my nationality are no longer important. I do not know why the plague has spared me. It has taken everything else. All the clocks and all the machines are dead. What keeps me breathing is the hope that I may not be the sole custodian of the planet.”

This is a neat little book that describes well what it might be like to be the last survivor of a plague that wipes out all life in your part of the world. It’s a different take from the usual post-apocalyptic story, because the homes and buildings still stand, preserved foods are available, and life is still quite livable — except that you are alone … very alone.

The Last Speck of the World is only a novella-length read, but well-worth the time.

February 22, 2019 update: This book is now also available in an Italian edition.