After London

Imagine a huge disaster makes London sink into a yucky, deadly swamp full of poison gas, and all the cities disappear under giant forests and wild animals. Brave boy Felix leaves his safe home by a lake, sails his canoe through scary waters, fights bad guys with his bow and arrows, rescues his sister, and explores the wild new world where people live like knights and hunters again, learning that nature is super strong and people have to be tough to survive.

Richard Jefferies' 'After London' (1885) depicts a post-apocalyptic Britain where an unspecified catastrophe has submerged much of the land under a vast, toxic 'Poison Marsh'—the remnants of London and surrounding areas—while forests reclaim the ruins of civilization. Society has regressed to a feudal state with isolated baronies, tribes, and savage folk navigating a world without industry, where canoes ply treacherous waters and archery supplants firearms. The narrative begins with a naturalistic description of this devolved landscape, emphasizing humanity's fragility against encroaching wilderness. The story centers on young Felix Aquila, a scholar's son from a lakeside settlement, who rejects a cloistered life to embark on perilous adventures. Accompanied briefly by his friend Oliver, Felix explores the marsh's horrors, battles canoe-men savages, uncovers ancient relics, and infiltrates tyrannical strongholds in the Weald, driven by a quest for knowledge and freedom. Through Felix's trials, Jefferies contrasts lost technological glory with primitive resilience, culminating in a bittersweet vision of humanity's cyclical struggle amid nature's dominance.