The Island of Last Things by Emma Sloley

Book Description

Camille has always preferred animals to people. The wild has nearly disappeared, but as a zookeeper at the last zoo in the world, on Alcatraz Island, she spends her days caring for playful chimpanzees, gentle tree frogs, and a restless jaguar. That is, until a new zookeeper, Sailor, arrives from Paris.

From their first meeting, Camille is drawn to Sailor, who seems to see something in Camille that no one has before. Sailor knows all too well the dangers beyond Alcatraz, but she increasingly chafes at the zoo’s rigid rules. She hatches a reckless plan to smuggle one of the most prized animals off the island to freedom, and invites Camille to join her. Camille must decide if she’s ready to risk everything for the promise of a better world.

Review

When we think of post-apocalyptic fiction, it’s easy to picture bleak landscapes, endless suffering, and the collapse of everything we know. But Emma Sloley’s The Island of Last Things offers something different. It’s a meditation on survival, resilience, and hope.

Set on Alcatraz Island, a place many of us already associate with captivity and isolation, this novel reimagines the prison as a sanctuary for both people and animals.

Yes, Sloley turns Alcatraz prison into a zoo.

While many dystopian stories lean into humanity’s cruelty, Sloley focuses on tenderness, even in the harshest of settings. The care of animals becomes a symbol of care for ourselves. A reminder that beauty and connection are worth preserving.

Reading this book felt personal to me. In my forthcoming novel, Ink and Waves, my protagonist also journeys to Alcatraz, searching for hope in the wreckage of a changed world. Like Sloley, I wanted to explore how ruins can hold not just the memory of loss, but also the seeds of renewal.

If you’re a fan of stories like Station Eleven or The Last Gifts of the Universe, and wish for a different take on a post-apocalyptic future, The Island of Last Things is for you.

Next week, I’ll be reviewing Roland Smith’s The Switch, another hopeful post-apocalyptic story. This one is set in the Pacific Northwest, close to my stomping grounds! Both novels share fascinating overlaps (yes, another zoo makes an appearance!), and reading them back-to-back reminded me just how powerful it can be when speculative fiction chooses compassion over despair.

👉 Have you read post-apocalyptic fiction that emphasizes hope? Drop your favorites in the comments!

Content Warning

Animal death, Captivity, Climate crisis, Extinction, Sexual content, Suicide, Trafficking, Violence

The header photo is a composite image. Base image by SHAKIL CHOWDHURY on Unsplash