When the English Fall

When the English Fall by David Williams is a haunting novel that asks the question of whether a peaceful Amish community can survive the end of civilization, A catastrophic solar storm brings about the collapse, but the Amish with their simple lifestyle are well prepared, with their stocked larders and stores of supplies. But before long these peaceful, non-violent people are being attacked and murdered for their food. As the English (non-Amish) become more desperate, Sadie, a young Amish girl who has visions foresees what they should do.

The book is written in the form of diary entries that Jacob, Sadie’s father writes and the entries are both sympathetic and compelling. This well-crafted story is lyrical and gripping as one reads of show more Jacob’s struggles to remain true to his faith, protect his family and help his neighbours. The author has done a superb job of showing us the Amish lifestyle as well as painting a vivid picture of a disastrous scenario that felt real. show less

"English" in the title refers to anyone who is not Amish. In this dystopian novel, a solar storm disrupts civilization in the same way it often does in novels of this genre. What is different is that our narrator is Amish, lives in an Amish farming community that unlike the English, doesn't rely on those things that have been lost. The Amish have food put by, the knowledge to produce more and their power is primarily provided by men or animals. Our narrator tells us with despair, fortitude and sympathy what happens to them when desperation in the form of English city dwellers comes into their lives.

Well written with a very sympathetic narrator, When the English Fall is an entertaining and thoughtful novel. I don't read many dystopian show more books, but I'm glad I read this one. show less

I live near a few Amish communities, so the idea of an end-of-the-world dystopian novel set from their point of view caught my interest. And this book was definitely interesting - sort of like a book about the end of our own society told from someone not directly involved in that society. However, I didn't really like the ending - the story felt very unresolved to me and I actually flipped back through the last few pages of the book, certain I had missed something. Read this if you'd like an original post-apocalyptic novel told from a new perspective, but not if you like your plots to neatly resolve.

I found a copy of this rather obscure and beautifully presented novel on eBay. It provides an interesting twist on the well-established collapse-of-civilisation narrative: the narrator lives in an Amish settlement. The format is that of a diary kept by a man named Jacob to record how his family and community are faring. After initial signs of climate change, a solar storm destroys much of the technology on which civilisation depends overnight. The Amish, who use very little of this technology, don’t experience much in the way of immediate effects. But as the world around them unravels, Jacob’s community is increasingly endangered. At first his diary establishes the mundane details of daily life working the land and introduces his show more family, including his seemingly prophetic daughter Sadie.

Jacob’s narrative voice is both distinctive and sometimes, to me, hard to believe. I can’t judge the actual realism as I don’t know any Amish people, but he seems so pious and virtuous as to be a character in a Victorian moral fable. The generous and peaceful ethos of his community is undoubtedly admirable, however the contrast drawn with the greed and violence of normal people living nearby is crashingly unsubtle. It’s most definitely a fair point, that the Amish way of life is more resilient and sustainable, and goodness knows I hate wasteful and unnecessary technology. However it does come across as a little preachy. I contemplated the things I would miss in such a community: libraries, museums, non-religious music, a diversity of different people, and interesting clothes sprang to mind. All of these pre-date the technologies that the Amish eschew. (I would also greatly miss microwaving food, to be fair.)

The depiction of society’s collapse from the perspective of someone outside society is cleverly done and well paced. The fragility of doomsday prepper culture in the face of permanent economic breakdown and the inadvisability of widespread gun ownership come through very clearly. Jacob seems superhumanly measured and reasonable in his assessments throughout, which is both a strength and a weakness of his narrative voice. Although I wasn’t always convinced by him, I did appreciate his narration. At times it was really moving, especially in the latter half. The sudden shocking murders of the neighbours and the community’s grief were especially powerful. I found Sadie’s prophetic role less effective and don't quite understand why this plot thread was included. A Christian reader might discern nuances there that I missed. Overall, an involving depiction of society’s breakdown from an unusual perspective. Not, however, a very reassuring book to read while worrying about Boris Johnson proroguing parliament. show less

This is a good read, compelling in its description of Amish community life and how one lives day to day embracing Christ's teachings against pride and violence, even in self-defense. As an atheist, this was outside my "comfort zone" but I had no trouble empathizing with Jacob and his family as they endure a catastrophe that puts all of humanity in the pre-electric age.

What would happen if something catastrophic knocked out the power grid and caused even vehicles and farm equipment to fail? An Amish farmer's daughter seemed to know the English would fall. Told through the farmer's diary, readers see life day by day as his daughter predicts the catastrophe, as the catastrophe unfolds, and as the crisis worsens. I am not a fan of science fiction or dystopian literature, but I loved this book! I listened to the audio book narrated by Eric Michael Summerer whose voice was a perfect fit for the character. While the ending left the reader with all sorts of questions, it was the perfect place to end the story, encouraging the reader to ponder not only the events of the book, but also the events yet to come. show more This book will probably be among my top reads of the year, and perhaps my favorite. show less

Quite a different sort of dystopian novel, this one told through the journal entries of an Amish man writing in the aftermath of a severe solar storm that knocks out the power grid, &c. Sparely, beautifully written, and a profound exploration of "modern life" and the sort of thing that could easily derail it in a moment.