I didn’t actually know that Z for Zachariah was actually a book. I remember it as a Play For Today back in the eighties (1984 to be precise – ah the power of the internet). I remember it starring Anthony Andrews (late of Brideshead) and not a great deal else.
Anyway, my interest was piqued recently when I saw a copy of it pop up on a certain file-sharing site that’ll remain anonymous. Reading a little more, I learnt that it was based on the novel, so I decided to give it a read.
Then I discovered that the book was actually aimed at children.
Oh, and the book has been relocated from North America to Wales. The premise is that there’s been a nuclear war, and most of the countryside has been ravaged. Yet there’s a valley that’s somehow remained unscathed, and in it lives a young girl who’s now all alone and is tending for herself, running her farm and generally surviving.
One day a stranger arrives…
And that’s all I’ll say. In some respects the novel is more of a novella, but if that premise intrigues you then read this book. Now I must go and catch up on the TV version (shhh…).