Enclave

LONGLISTED FOR THE MILES FRANKLIN LITERARY AWARD 2023

'These are troubling times. The world is a dangerous place,' the voice of the Chairman said. 'I can continue to assure you of this: within the Wall you are perfectly safe.'

Christine could not sleep, she could not wake, she could not think. She stared, half-blind, at the cold screen of her smartphone. She was told the Agency was keeping them safe from the dangers outside, an outside world she would never see.

She never imagined questioning what she was told, what she was allowed to know, what she was permitted to think. She never even thought there were questions to ask.

The enclave was the only world she knew, the world outside was not safe. Staying or leaving was not a choice she had the power to make. But then Christine dared start thinking . . . and from that moment, danger was everywhere.

In our turbulent times, Claire G. Coleman's Enclave is a powerful dystopian allegory that confronts the ugly realities of racism, homophobia, surveillance, greed and privilege and the self-destructive distortions that occur when we ignore our shared humanity.

'A brilliant, engrossing, necessary read' COURIER MAIL

'Much of this novel feels frighteningly plausible ... Coleman's world shimmers on the page like a heat haze' ARTS HUB

'If you liked Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale or Charlotte Woods' The Natural Way of Things, this one is clearly for you' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

'The book holds up a thoughtful mirror showing us to ourselves using an all too real future' KILL YOUR DARLINGS

'Enclave is a novel that inclines towards hope ... offers us an alternative: a world in which people, in meeting the demands of the present with curiosity, courage and conviction, can bring about a more just and inclusive future' NEW DAILY

'Coleman can turn a deft phrase ... She writes a mean chase sequence, ramping up the suspense when she wants, with fight scenes and great narrative propulsion' THE AGE

'Coleman offers an urgent critique of bigotry and, implicitly, of colonialism, writing with conviction about the ways technology can be misused by those in power, but also how it might be deployed for good. Indeed, despite its dystopian tenor, Enclave is ultimately a hopeful novel, and one which suggests it is far from futile to aspire to a better future' MANJIMUP-BRIDGETOWN TIMES

'If Margaret Atwood's dystopian Handmaid's Tale ignited a spark, you'll rip through Claire Coleman's new novel like a forest fire' MARIE CLAIRE

'She is toying with the canon, but also placing menacing signposts of t

Born of social media algorithms and convenience culture, with a biting critique of modern tribalism, Enclave, Claire G Coleman's third novel, is Brave New World with every conceit flipped for the smartphone generation. In a future Australia, 20-year-old Christine lives with her family in Safetown. It's a walled city, protected by security drones and guards that keep residents safe from the collapsing nations and societies beyond. It's a good life, and Safetown citizens have everything they could want-the Agency and the algorithms see to that. But Christine isn't content. Her father's coldness, her mother's drinking, Christine's sense of not belonging and the mysterious disappearance of her best friend Jack and his family push her into despair. In this state, she admits her desire for a woman of the brown-skinned servant class, a desire that is reciprocated. This double crime against her race and the rigid values of her community sees Christine exiled into the wastelands that surround Safetown. At first, she fears that things are as the Agency says, but soon she discovers that her life has been built on a terrible lie. In the face of that revelation, Christine has no choice but to go back. For the sake of others like her trapped within, Safetown has to fall. Shot through with themes of race, class and sexuality, Enclave is a novel that dares to hope for a brighter future, and Coleman continues to show why she is such an important voice in Australian science fiction. Stefen Brazulaitis is the owner of Stefen's Books in Perth. Read his interview with Claire G Coleman about Enclave here.

Claire G. Coleman is a Noongar writer, born in Western Australia, and now based in Naarm. Her family have been from the area around Ravensthorpe and Hopetoun on the south coast of WA since before time started being recorded. Claire wrote her black&write! Fellowship-winning book Terra Nullius while travelling around Australia in a caravan. The Old Lie (2019) was her second novel and in 2021 her acclaimed non-fiction book, Lies Damned Lies was published by Ultimo Press. Enclave is her third novel.

'These are troubling times. The world is a dangerous place,' the voice of the Chairman said. 'I can continue to assure you of this: within the Wall you are perfectly safe.' Christine could not sleep, she could not wake, she could not think. She stared, half-blind, at the cold screen of her smartphone. She was told the Agency was keeping them safe from the dangers outside, an outside world she would never see.She never imagined questioning what she was told, what she was allowed to know, what she was permitted to think. She never even thought there were questions to ask.The enclave was the only world she knew, the world outside was not safe. Staying or leaving was not a choice she had the power to make. But then Christine dared start thinking . . . and from that moment, danger was everywhere.In our turbulent times, Claire G. Coleman's Enclave is a powerful dystopian allegory that confronts the ugly realities of racism, homophobia, surveillance, greed and privilege and the self-destructive distortions that occur when we ignore our shared humanity.'A brilliant, engrossing, necessary read' COURIER MAIL 'Much of this novel feels frighteningly plausible ... Coleman's world shimmers on the page like a heat haze' ARTS HUB 'If you liked Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale or Charlotte Woods' The Natural Way of Things , this one is clearly for you' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD 'The book holds up a thoughtful mirror showing us to ourselves using an all too real future' KILL YOUR DARLINGS ' Enclave is a novel that inclines towards hope ... offers us an alternative: a world in which people, in meeting the demands of the present with curiosity, courage and conviction, can bring about a more just and inclusive future' NEW DAILY 'Coleman can turn a deft phrase ... She writes a mean chase sequence, ramping up the suspense when she wants, with fight scenes and great narrative propulsion' THE AGE 'Coleman offers an urgent critique of bigotry and, implicitly, of colonialism, writing with conviction about the ways technology can be misused by those in power, but also how it might be deployed for good. Indeed, despite its dystopian tenor, Enclave is ultimately a hopeful novel, and one which suggests it is far from futile to aspire to a better future' MANJIMUP-BRIDGETOWN TIMES 'If Margaret Atwood's dystopian Handmaid's Tale ignited a spark, you'll rip through Claire Coleman's new novel like a forest fire' MARIE CLAIRE 'She is toying with the canon, but also placing menacing signposts of the unsustainability of the settlement's brutal, exclusionary politic

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