Last ones left alive

*AN IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR*'You'll be terrified, fascinated and above all, uplifted by Orpen - a heroine to rival Philip Pullman's Lyra or The Passage's Amy' Stylist'Fiercely feminist, highly imaginative' ObserverRaised by her mother and Maeve on Slanbeg, an island off the west coast of Ireland, Orpen has a childhood of love and stories by the fireside.

But the stories grow darker, and the training begins.

Ireland has been devoured by a ravening menace known as the skrake, and though Slanbeg is safe for now, the women must always be ready to run, or to fight. When Maeve is bitten, Orpen is faced with a dilemma: kill Maeve before her transformation is complete, or try to get help.

So Orpen sets off, with Maeve in a wheelbarrow and her dog at her side, in the hope of finding other survivors, and a cure.

It is a journey that will test Orpen to her limits, on which she will learn who she really is, who she really loves, and how to imagine a future in a world that ended before she was born.