Sunny At the End of the World Steph Bowe book review: leaves readers a posthumous treat

The late Steph Bowe's last book was found by her family on her computer. Its publisher says it is hon­oured to bring it to readers.

The late Steph Bowe's last book was found by her family on her computer.

Steph Bowe’s last book, Sunny At the End of the World, was found by her mother and sister on her computer after she died in 2020.

Text, the publishing house, says it is hon­oured to bring it to readers.

“We lost a wonderful author of three smart, funny YA (young adult) novels, but gained a witty and moving story of friendship, survival and courage,” the company said in a statement.

It’s a zombie apocalypse story in which Sunny must save what matters most, “and ­discover that the zombies might not be the true enemy”.

Steph Bowe was born in Melbourne in 1994.

Sunny At The End Of The World by Steph Bowe.

Her first YA novel, Girl Saves Boy, published when she was just 16, was described by American writer Rebecca Stead as “full of the absolute truth – life is complicated”.

Steph went on to publish two further YA novels, All This Could End, which was longlisted for the 2014 Gold Inky Award, and Night Swimming, a Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Notable Book, which was also longlisted for a Sisters in Crime Davitt Award.

She died, aged just 25, on January 20, 2020, from a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Her last book, which she started in 2018, features 17-year-olds Sunny and Toby, who are on the run after zombies have destroyed most of the adults in their world.

Cut to 2034, Sunny is being held in an underground facility. From the blurb: “What happened to her? Was it aliens, a conspiracy, a simulation, biological terrorism, a totalitarian takeover? And who can infiltrate the facility and release the surviving prisoners?”

In their statement, the publishers said: “Steph was always wise beyond her years, with the power to access other worlds. Somehow, in Sunny at the End of the World, she predicted an “outbreak” much like the one that changed our world, after she was gone … With her trademark humour, endearing characters and brilliant ­storytelling, Steph Bowe has left us a novel that helps to make sense of the rapidly changing world we live in.”

She leaves a fine legacy.