Heroes and Villains by Angela Carter

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For the first time in PABC history, we will be reading an apocalyptic, post nuclear, sci-fi romance! Heroes and Villains by Angela Carter was published in 1969 and has met with critical acclaim.

Here's the blurb:

"After the apocalypse the world is neatly divided.

Rational civilization rests with the Professors in their steel and concrete villages; marauding tribes of Barbarians roam the surrounding jungles; mutilated Out People inhabit the burnt scars of cities.

But Marianne, a Professor's daughter, is carried away into the jungle--a grotesque vegetable paradise--where she will become the captive bride of Jewel, the proud and beautiful Barbarian. There she will witness the savage rituals of the snake worshipers, indulge her voluptuous, virginal fantasies, taste the forbidden fruit of chaos...

Erotic, exotic, and bizarre, HEROES AND VILLAINS is a post-apocalyptic romance, a gripping adventure story, a colourful embroidery of religion and magic and, not least, a dispassionate vision of life beyond our brave nuclear world."

and here is a slightly less trashy synopsis:

"A modern fable, a post-apocalyptic romance, a gothic horror story; Angela Carter's genre-defying fantasia Heroes and Villains includes an introduction by Robert Coover in Penguin Modern Classics.

Sharp-eyed Marianne lives in a white tower made of steel and concrete with her father and the other Professors. Outside, where the land is thickly wooded and wild beasts roam, live the Barbarians, who raid and pillage in order to survive. Marianne is strictly forbidden to leave her civilized world but, fascinated by these savage outsiders, decides to escape. There, beyond the wire fences, she will discover a decaying paradise, encounter the tattooed Barbarian boy Jewel and go beyond the darkest limits of her imagination. Playful, sensuous, violent and gripping, Heroes and Villains is an ambiguous and deliriously rich blend of post-apocalyptic fiction, gothic fantasy, literary allusion and twisted romance.

Angela Carter (1940-92) was born in Eastbourne and later evacuated to live with her grandmother in Yorkshire. She read English at Bristol University, and after escaping an early marriage went to live in Japan for a number of years. She wrote nine novels, which blend fantasy, science fiction and gothic, and is often referred to as a writer of magical realism."

This may be a little bonkers and there are some cracking book covers out there! Should be an interesting night! If you want to buy the book on amazon click here - Heroes and Villains by Angela Carter (http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=posapobooclu-21&l=as2&o=2&a=0141192380)

and you can buy the Kindle version here. (http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=posapobooclu-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B004MYFQAY)