The Chrysalids
By John Wyndham

This is my third Wyndham novel, and it is one some people consider his best. Another great adventure story, this time told from the point of view of an adolescent boy.

The story takes place in a much changed world after some sort of cataclysm (called the "Tribulation"), almost certainly nuclear given the descriptions of the state of nature and fear of mutation. We open with humans living in very basic circumstances in a farming community run under extremely strict religious law. David's father is the tyrannical and brutal leader of the farm clan, obsessed with rooting out any "deviation" from the True Image. In the Bible, Man is created in the image of God. God does not have six toes on a foot. Outside "civilisation" is a very different society, populated by people banished or born to live on the fringes and eke out a much harsher existence. Here, there is no "true" image and existence is very mean. In the world of the farm we encounter a child, then a few more, who have an extra ability of telepathy, more easily hidden than, say, a sixth toe. Until it is noticed.

David and his friends communicate long distances through their minds, and from an early age are aware of the danger they would be in if their difference is discovered. The books leads inevitably to this and their escape attempt. It turns out that being able to communicate in this way imparts some advantages.

A short book, it tells a well known story of the evils of persecution and the need for tolerance of difference. A shared humanity. But also considers what sort of "improved" human evolution might produce: perhaps even a "superior variant" of Homo Sapiens. I thought that the conclusion was a little quick and perhaps a bit pat. It also lapses into some polemic regarding evolution and change near the end, with Wyndham getting up on the podium to lecture. With this said, I enjoyed it, even though I would place it slightly below the The Day of the Triffids in my estimation. Many more good books and short stories of his to try next.