In the Wet
by Nevil Shute
Shute's speculative view of the future of the British Empire. An old cleric placed in a bush in Australia is summoned to the bed of a dying abandoned man. In his delusions, Stevie tells the story of Britain in 1983 through a squadron pilot who was in the service of Queen Elizabeth II. This is the rainy season. The drunken and crazy old man lies to die in the bushes of Queensland. In the last hours of opium grandfatherhood, the priest finds his abandoned hut and listens to his last words. A half-asleep, half-sleepy old man tells the story of an adventure that will last for decades in the future, in a completely different world.
