M. J Carey’s novel The Girl With All The Gifts will most likely be found in the Zombie or Apocalypse area of your local library. However, I don’t believe either of these genres do the book justice. The zombie image has been overused and wrung dry in past novels and films, yet Carey resurrects it with a refreshingly new idea.
Melanie, an intelligent and seemingly normal ten year old, acts as our main protagonist. A sense of unease builds up in the first few chapters as we slowly find out that Melanie is strapped to her chair everyday by scared soldiers, only eats once a week, and is kept in an underground army base with around 20 other children her age. Still, more shockingly, we find that Melanie’s class mates are occasionally removed from their cells to visit Dr Caldwell never to return, and finally, that at the smell of human flesh, Melanie and her friends succumb to an undeniable hunger.
The one aspect of her life that Melanie looks forward to is when Miss Justineau teaches her class. For Melanie, Miss Justineau days are the best days: days in which Greek Myths unfold and Spring is brought into the classroom. Miss Justineau is the fuel for Melanie’s imagination and fantasies where Melanie can save her teacher and they can live together for the rest of time. Melanie is the one Miss Justineau tries to save from the scalpel of Dr Caldwell. They have a connection which develops throughout the novel as they join Sergeant Parks, Doctor Caldwell and Private Gallagher to embark on a journey to find civilisation and a cure for the disease that rips through the human race.
Carey has produced such strong characters and their stark differences show up as they are put in such an intimate situation; however, we can see that they are all human, and, despite their individual faults, their intentions are all good. As the novel progresses, Miss Justineau and Melanie grow closer as they learn to trust each other, and the rest of the group slowly come to terms with the reality that it takes more than your DNA make-up to classify as human.
The ending comes as a shock, but after it had sunk in a strange sense of calm and relief came over me. I won’t ruin it for you but after the initial horror I realised it was right; the legacy it left was the only way forward. As a reader, you are left with many moral resolutions – what really makes someone human? How can love break down even the most strange and scary barriers? The one that stood out for me was that, to move forward, you must let go of the past, even if it costs you the human race.
Words by Betsy Middleton