1Bug_666
I remember the plot and the cover so I'll describe both. I'm assuming this was written mid to late 80s but could have been as early as the mid 70s or as late as the very early 90s.
It's set in England during the cold war, I think in a village. The book is either all, or mostly, letters and diary entries written to or by the owner of a house who is trying to get his house and land (a small garden) declared either neutral or independent so that, if 'the bomb drops', the fallout won't affect his house or garden. His thought process, from what I remember, is basically that, if fallout affects his property then it would be a violation of international law (bombing a neutral state) and so it simply won't happen, there is no consideration given to the logistics.
He has someone living with him, I believe either a lodger or a man-servant (I'm sure it's another man and, given the time the book was written, almost certain they weren't a couple) who is mentioned several times, I think usually things along the lines of '...we tried to run a drill but (man) fell into the newly laid mulch...' or 'I tried to simulate a blackout by removing the lightbulbs, but (man) fell down the stairs'. (Those aren't actual quotes, just a vague idea)
The cover was a cartoon- a small, tidy, typical English cottage, with neatly trimmed lawn and garden, surrounded by a no-man's land style wasteland with, I believe, smoke and rubble.
It's set in England during the cold war, I think in a village. The book is either all, or mostly, letters and diary entries written to or by the owner of a house who is trying to get his house and land (a small garden) declared either neutral or independent so that, if 'the bomb drops', the fallout won't affect his house or garden. His thought process, from what I remember, is basically that, if fallout affects his property then it would be a violation of international law (bombing a neutral state) and so it simply won't happen, there is no consideration given to the logistics.
He has someone living with him, I believe either a lodger or a man-servant (I'm sure it's another man and, given the time the book was written, almost certain they weren't a couple) who is mentioned several times, I think usually things along the lines of '...we tried to run a drill but (man) fell into the newly laid mulch...' or 'I tried to simulate a blackout by removing the lightbulbs, but (man) fell down the stairs'. (Those aren't actual quotes, just a vague idea)
The cover was a cartoon- a small, tidy, typical English cottage, with neatly trimmed lawn and garden, surrounded by a no-man's land style wasteland with, I believe, smoke and rubble.
