By Sarah Murdoch
January 12, 2018
Toronto Star
Tarry This Night, Kristyn Dunnion, Arsenal Pulp
This vividly imagined dystopian novel, set in the near future, unfolds over the course of a few days. A dwindling cult presided over by Father Ernst lives underground in terrible circumstances, with little to eat (we first meet this dysfunctional family of 11 tucking into a chewy infestation of weevils discovered in the flour), the women expected to cater to the base needs of the messianic father. Aboveground, civil war rages after what appears to be environmental collapse. Cousin Paul has been ordered to the surface to find sustenance. The action moves between Paul’s adventure and the daily traumas of life within the bunker.