The Ferryman

Hidden from a world ravaged by climate change, Prospera is a utopian paradise located on a remote archipelago. Prospera’s lucky citizens spend their days pursuing their every desire. Their health is continually monitored, and when it falls below 10 percent, they are ferried away to the Nursery. While in the Nursery, their memories are wiped clean, and they are reborn in younger bodies for the next iteration of their lives. Head ferryman Proctor Bennett transports individuals on their final journeys, but when he is called to accompany his father, his father leaves him with a message that upends his world. Soon Proctor must confront the realities of both Prospera and the Annex, where the increasingly discontented laborers reside. Cronin’s (The Passage) much-anticipated latest is a richly developed, twist-filled dystopian novel. Narrators Scott Brick and Suzanne Elise Freeman give voice to Proctor, his wife Elise, and the many citizens of Prospera and the Annex, capturing the privilege of the wealthy and the anger and hope of their staff. Though Cronin’s world is complex enough to be occasionally confusing, Brick and Freeman’s atmospheric narration provides a steadying presence.