THE BUNKER IS DESIGNED TO KEEP THEM ALL SAFE.
In the end, very few people made it to the bunker. Now they wait there for the outside world to heal. Wolfe is one of the lucky ones. She’s safe and employed as the bunker’s pharmacist, doling out medicine under the watchful eye of their increasingly erratic and paranoid leader.
BUT IS IT THE PLACE OF GREATEST DANGER?
But when the leader starts to ask things of Wolfe, favours she can hardly say no to, it seems her luck is running out. Forming an unlikely alliance with the young Doctor Stirling, her troubled assistant Levitt, and Canavan – a tattooed giant of a man who’s purpose in the bunker is a mystery – Wolfe must navigate the powder keg of life underground where one misstep will light the fuse. The walls that keep her safe also have her trapped.
How much more is Wolfe willing to give to stay alive?
Once again I find myself drawn to the end of the world. The Pharmacist by Rachelle Atalla is an intimate, introspective journey of a woman locked away from the outside world by choice.
Wolfe’s character is riveting, there is an inherent sadness in her. Every action and reaction reinforces the bittersweet tone that permeates the novel. Wolfe is close to being broken beyond all repair, she is so very nearly without hope. It’s only when an unexpected event occurs that she realises that life still offers possibilities. I think the thing that struck me most is that Wolfe is not written as an out and out hero. Like us all, she has her share of flaws. There are moments where her drive for self-preservation overrides her natural empathy. It’s fascinating to view the internal struggle this creates. In all honesty, I’m not sure I would be able to make some of the difficult choices Wolfe has to.
Triumph over adversity, grim determination, steadfast refusal to quit. You can call it whatever you like. There is something almost hypnotic about watching a cast of characters, ordinary people, who are thrust into an extraordinary situation. Wolfe’s enclosed world becomes a microcosm of humanity. We discover how different individuals cope with their voluntary confinement. There are those who embrace the routine. The rules and regulations are something tangible that they can cling onto while the outside world collapses. Others retreat into fantasy, daydreaming about their past lives and the roads they have travelled.
As the conditions in the bunker begin to deteriorate there is a palpable sense of the tension increasing. It feels almost as if the bunker is morphing into something far more sinister, a prison rather than a refuge. The difference between how the leadership live and the general population survive further highlights this growing disquiet. You just know that when people start gathering together and discussing their situation in hushed tones something bad is going to go down. Abrupt violent acts are the societal pressure cooker letting off steam. The only problem is that pressure is only going to start building again.
Like many other examples of the apocalyptic sub-genre the narrative touches upon the darker side of human nature. The Pharmacist has moments that will be undoubtedly triggering for some, or too bleak for others. Personally, and I’ll admit I may be a little weird, but I have always taken some comfort in apocalyptic fiction. When it comes to the end of the world we see the worst in people but often we also see people at their best. The novel ends with the thinnest glimmer of optimism, just as I had hoped it would. Just that smallest chance that we can learn from the mistakes that take us to the brink of annihilation and transforms us into something new, something better, is enough for me.
The Pharmacist is published by Hodder and is available now. It’s a must-have entry on any reading list for genre fiction apocalists such as myself. Highly recommended.
My musical recommendation to accompany The Pharmacist is the soundtrack to Birdbox by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. It’s a collection of mildly disquieting ambient electronica that fits the claustrophobia of the novel perfectly. You know the drill by now – read the book, listen to the music and enjoy both.
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