The Patchwork People

Lawrence (Keeper of the Universe) creates a frighteningly possible near-future dystopia, with a Britain brought to the brink of collapse by Thatcherism, depletion of fossil fuels, worldwide depression and rising sea levels as the setting for an unlikely but ultimately triumphant romance. Hugh and Helena fall for each other after he rescues her from difficulties in decaying downtown Cardiff. Although she is well-off, she faces an uncertain future competing for the few remaining jobs. He is of the chronically unemployed, subsisting on the dole and scavenging, for example, mining 20th-century landfills for reusable materials. Helena lands Hugh a job in her father's colliery, but neither of them can endure the desperate treadmill engendered by their country's shrinking resources. Perhaps a bit too fortuitously, an ``alternate careers service'' now comes to town and gives them a new direction-living on a farm. In spite of this somewhat contrived conclusion, Hugh and Helen's world and their dilemma seem so achingly real that readers will cheer the characters' valor and take away much food for thought. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)