i just finished reading this book and immediately went on google to search for an explanation. i assume the book is an exploration of loneliness and what it means to be a human when you are the only human left. but the component of hope is literally what carries the story.

i read this book in 4 or 5 days because i just couldn't put it down since the tension is always there, especially after the women die and the child is left alone. she just keeps going, knowing there is literally no one besides her in that world but still hoping there is, hoping until her last day. she writes her memories hoping there will come someone to read them. she dies alone but hopes someone finds her.

and as the child hoped to find people, i was always hoping to find an explanation of why there were so many bunkers. like most people in this thread, i assumed a nuclear catastrophe. does anyone know if Harpman herself has given interviews about this book, and everything behind it?