Survival

Much of the novel encompasses the overarching theme of survival. When the book opens, Emma is sneaking through the forest to get back to her cabin, very fearful, and she feels enormously threatened when Anna knocks at her door. The author takes several chapters to eventually roll out the backdrop for her fear -- a world that has been destroyed by sinister forces and ideas gone wrong that have left thousands of people infected with deadly disease and others in danger of being captured and sent to breeding farms.

Emma owes much of her ability to get along to her now-deceased father, who was a survivalist even before the world turned upside down and passed on his skills to her. This gives her the ability to care for herself and fend off those who would harm her, but it has also left her with the idea...