Brooklyn BookBeat: Brooklyn lawyer meets doomsday preppers in ‘The Survivalists’
In her debut novel, “The Survivalists,” Kashana Cauley lends the wit and cogency she’s known for on social media to describe Aretha, a young and perpetually single Black lawyer, who, in finding a seemingly perfect man, tumbles into the world of illegal firearms and doomsday preparations.
The novel opens with a believable and often relatable portrait of Aretha’s struggles as she attempts to fill in the gaps left by her tragically deceased parents. But partying, an exhausting pursuit to make partner at the law firm where she works, and the occasional lackluster date can only do so much to fill the void in her life. She quickly meets and falls for Aaron, a coffee entrepreneur and fellow orphan, and is reluctantly charmed. Aretha falls for not only the man Aaron is, but the life in his Brooklyn brownstone that being with him promises. In her desire to be with Aaron and to live the idealistic life she feels so far removed from, Aretha ignores the red flags of Aaron’s strange roommates, the guns that seem to multiply every time she looks away, and the doomsday bunker in their backyard.
Aretha’s perspective is witty and engaging. She is determined to achieve the life to which she aspires, and to overcome or adapt to any barriers that stand in her way. Two such barriers are Aaron’s, and eventually Aretha’s, roommates in the Brooklyn brownstone, two die-hard survivalists who dedicate their lives to preparing for innumerable world catastrophes. Like the survivalists, Aretha yearns for control over her uncertain future, however, in her pursuit to exert control, she does not avoid her ruination but steers it in new directions.