Honno launches Gripping Cli-Fi

Honno is excited to announce the signing of After the Clearances, the breath-taking and thought- provoking third novel from acclaimed author Alison Layland.

Following on from climate thriller Riverflow, Layland has delivered a remarkable environmentally conscious story set in a not-too-distant and all too believable future. When talking about her inspiration, Layland says “I’m very concerned about the climate and nature crises and the seriously insufficient response from governments. We’re feeling the consequences now, and they will only get worse.”

Set in 2056, After the Clearances introduces thirteen-year-old Glesni living in the idealistic, self-sufficient Seeder community on Ynys Hudol, an island off the remote north coast of Wales with her mother and grandfather Erik. The arrival of Sandy, a newly redundant civil servant, casts a critical eye over the Seeder community and Glesni’s grandfather in particular. Through Sandy, Glesni uncovers dark and unforgivable truths about her community, discovering their links with terrorism, bombings and murder. But will she turn on her grandfather and the only community she knows?

After the Clearances will captivate fans of The Overstory, Richard Powers and The High House, Jessie Greengrass. A new take on dystopian fiction, After the Clearances delivers a chilling and entirely possible future for us all.

“A truly compelling contribution to the ever-growing, ever-relevant genre of climate fiction. A novel I have been searching for and am delighted to have finally found it.”
Rebecca Parfitt - Commissioning Editor, Honno

Alison Layland is the author of two psychological thrillers: Someone Else’s Conflict, a compelling narrative of storytelling and the aftermath of war, was featured as a Debut of the Month on the LoveReading website, and Riverflow, a story of family secrets and community tensions against a background of flooding and environmental protest, was a Waterstones’ Wales Book of the Month. She also writes short stories and flash fiction; she won the short story competition at the National Eisteddfod, and her story Quirky Robbers is featured in the Honno crime anthology, Cast A Long Shadow. She is the translator of a number of award-winning and best-selling novels.

When not writing, she is an environmental and social campaigner, who enjoys walking, crafting, growing and foraging around her home on the beautiful coast of Anglesey.

After the Clearances will arrive on shelves in July 2025.