The Last Woman in the World

AFTER THE FIRES. AFTER THE VIRUS. THEY CAME. A remarkable literary novel from the multi-award-nominated Australian writer

It's night, and the walls of Rachel's home creak as they settle into the cover of darkness. Fear has led her to a reclusive life on the land, her only occasional contact with her sister.

A hammering on the door. There stands a mother, Hannah, with a sick baby. They are running for their lives from a mysterious death sweeping the Australian countryside.

Now Rachel must face her worst fears: should she take up the fight to help these strangers survive in a society she has rejected for so long?

From the critically acclaimed author of Mr Wigg and Nest, The Last Woman in the World looks at how we treat our world and each other - and what it is that might ultimately redeem us.

'creepy and chilling, this becomes a hell-for-leather survival race through burning countryside' The Observer

'enthralling . . . a powerful allegory . . . every passage swells with the momentum of an action-flick. Each page is shaped with an impressive, world-building cinematic scope' Jessie Tu, Sydney Morning Herald

'Simpson's page-turner layers precise nature writing with a conspiratorial tone for our times, turning in a gripping apocalyptic thriller that infects the sublime features of the landscape with primal fear' The Guardian

'Chilling in its warnings. Powerful' Good Reading

'This novel is fast-paced, adrenalin-fuelled - and dramatic enough to keep me reading into the night' Sarah L'Estrange, ABC Online

'Seat-of-your-pants gripping' ArtsHub

'This book is deeply affecting. Inga Simpson writes with literary brilliance. The Last Woman in the World is an action driven novel, but it is also intensely philosophical, a clever study of character and intensely beautiful. Many fine books have been published in Australia in the last couple of years . . . This is amongst the best. It will stay with me long after the last page was turned' Living Arts Canberra

'The Last Woman in the World is heart-racing, page-turning, hiding-under-the-doona stuff. A smart and pacey thriller that is also a lament for a world we have failed to care for.' Kate Mildenhall, bestselling author of The Mother Fault

'The Last Woman in the World is a novel of fear, fire and an uncertain future. A powerful narrative in Inga Simpson's unique voice. Horrifying, yet humane and ultimately hopeful - a masterwork' Angela Slatter, World Fantasy Award-winning author of The Bitterwood Bible

'The Last Woman in the World

Inga Simpson's fourth novel asks who we would choose to become in a catastrophic near-future Australia. Ray, short for Rachel, is a glass artist who sequesters herself deep in the bush, interacting only with her sister and a trusted gallery go-between to deliver her pieces. She is recovering from a personal breakdown, but Ray's tightly controlled life also protects her from a society much like ours-only magnified to overwhelm. Bushfires, pandemics plural, climate cataclysm and extremist politics have made her retreat, and so the sudden arrival of a stranger carrying a sick baby and news of a fresh apocalypse are unprecedented challenges. Ray quickly rallies and the trio set out to find help for baby Isaiah on foot and by boat, dodging the few other survivors they encounter and making do with field dressings and guesswork. Their eventual destination is Canberra and Ray's sister, and, perhaps, a cure for the plague. I liked the passages where the women and child made their way through town and country, with well-observed reflections on cultivated land, urban trees, art and how to minimise harm. The plague's form and mechanism are never quite made explicit and there are occasional horror tropes that feel awkward, but Ray's arc as she transforms from fearful recluse to hard-bitten survivalist is a believable triumph. The Last Woman in the World is a reluctantly grim, subtle literary novel hidden deep in a thriller's dress-up box. Anne Barnetson is a bookseller and illustrator based in Perth.

Inga Simpson began her career as a professional writer for government before gaining a PhD in creative writing. In 2011, she took part in the Queensland Writers Centre Manuscript Development Program and, as a result, Hachette Australia published her first novel, Mr Wigg, in 2013. Nest, Inga's second novel, was published in 2014 and was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Stella Prize and shortlisted for the ALS Gold Medal. Inga's third novel, the acclaimed Where the Trees Were, was published in 2016.

Inga was awarded the final Eric Rolls Prize for her nature writing and has obtained a second PhD, exploring the history of Australian nature writers. Inga's account of her love of Australian nature and life with trees, Understory, was published in 2017. Her first book for children, The Book of Australian Trees, illustrated by Alicia Rogerson, was published in 2021. The Last Woman in the World, her critically acclaimed environmental thriller, was published in 2021 and shortlisted for the 2022 Fiction Indie Book Award. Her bestselling and critically acclaimed 2022 novel Willowman was shortlisted for the BookPeople Adult Fiction Book of the Year 2023 and in 2024 was selected by Australia's leading booksellers in BookPeople's 100 Must-Read Australian Novels.

Inga lives on the New South Wales south coast among trees.

FEAR IS A JOURNEY. SURVIVAL IS HER FIGHT.It's night, and the walls of Rachel's home creak as they settle into the cover of dark. Her fear of other people has led her to a reclusive life as far from them as possible, her only occasional contact with her sister.A hammering on the door. There stand a mother, Hannah, and her sick baby. They are running for their lives from a mysterious death sweeping Australia's wide expanse - so soon, too soon, after the fires.Now Rachel must face her worst fears to help Hannah, search for her sister, and discover just how this terror was born . . . and how to survive it.

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