Deluge (novel)
| Author | S. Fowler Wright |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Disaster |
| Publisher | Cosmopolitan Book Corporation |
|
Publication date
|
1928 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 305 pp |
| Followed by | Dawn |
Deluge is a 1928 novel by S. Fowler Wright.
In the novel, a series of tremors creates a global flood that destroys all civilization save for a few areas of the English Midlands that remain above water. It follows Martin Webster, a lawyer who loses his wife and children. His companion, Claire Arlington, is an athlete and one of the few women to survive the flood. Their love affair is complicated when Helen, Martin's wife, turns out not to be dead after all. It is one of the earliest examples of post-apocalyptic science fiction, it is also classified as a scientific romance.
Wright used the metaphor of the flood and the aftermath to comment critically upon 1920s British society at the time. A movie version made in Hollywood, very loosely based upon the book, but instead set in New York City was released in 1933. The film was well received in the United States and granted Wright considerable financial success.
Storm Jameson praised Deluge on its original publication in the magazine London Calling, comparing Deluge to Cicely Hamilton's post-holocaust novel Theodore Savage.Deluge also influenced Jameson's novel of a Britain devastated by floods, The World Ends (1937, as by William Lamb).
Deluge was Wright's first bestseller both in the United States and in Wright's native United Kingdom, the success of the novel allowed Wright to pursue writing full-time
Wright composed Deluge while working as an accountant. Unable to sell his story to a commercial publisher, Wright opted to self-publish Deluge after noting the positive reception garnered from his previous novel The Amphibians. Previously, Wright had focused on writing poetry, helping to found the Empire Poetry League. Prior to Deluge, Wright had little experience in writing science fiction novels, though Wright was always known to have an interest in the genre.
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