How I Live Now

How I Live Now is a post-apocalyptic young adult novel by Meg Rosoff about a third world war, which comes to England while fifteen-year-old American narrator Daisy is living with her Aunt Penn and four cousins on a small, rural farm. Though Daisy is initially resentful of her stepmother for initiating her stay in England, she becomes much happier once she bonds with her cousins Piper and Edmond. Unfortunately, soldiers invade their small family farm, and Daisy and her cousins are forced to survive and ultimately deal with the physical and emotional consequences of violence.

The novel begins as the narrator Daisy arrives in England, where she plans to live with her Aunt Penn and her four cousins, Isaac, Osbert, Edmond, and Piper. Daisy’s stepmother, whom she calls Davina the Diabolical, has sent her away. Pregnant, she wants Daisy out of the house for a while. Much to Daisy's frustration, her father gives in to her stepmother, and she is sent via plane to England, to live with people she hasn't seen in years. In the background of this family conflict looms a large international conflict – a discussion of terrorism in both America and the U.K. has caused a stir in the news, and the conflict seems to be building.

Daisy becomes less frustrated quite soon after arriving in England, when she falls madly in love with her young cousin, Piper, fourteen-year-old rakish and handsome cousin, Edmond, and her sweet and just Aunt Penn. The family lives on a ramshackle farmhouse in the country, and to Daisy, the setting is idyllic. She and Piper bond, as Daisy prepares to luxuriate in the pleasure of this new farm life in the rolling hills of England.



However, life begins to change when Aunt Penn leaves the children alone for a few days to attend an anti-war conference in Oslo. That same day, a huge bomb is detonated in London, killing dozens of people. After the bomb detonates, occupying soldiers rush into England, and a full-fledged war begins. As soldiers make their way deeper and deeper into the countryside, Daisy expresses her romantic feelings for her cousin, Edmond, who reciprocates them. They begin a teenaged romance, made more dramatic by the fact that Aunt Penn has not come home, and the soldiers are still approaching.

Eventually, soldiers come to the farm and separate the children; Piper and Daisy are sent to live with Major McEvoy and his family, and Edmond and Osbert are sent to a mysterious location unknown to Daisy. Isaac joins the front and is not heard from again for many years. Daisy's love for Edmond and her removal from the family farm finally motivate her to get involved in the war, which she mostly ignored before the arrival of the soldiers. Daisy learns from Major McEvoy that the boys are being held at a place called Gateshead Farm. When Major McEvoy is killed, Daisy and Piper use the opportunity to travel to Gateshead Farm in search of their family. They witness the atrocities of the war, which come to a head when they arrive at Gateshead to find dozens of brutalized bodies. Gateshead has been the site of a massacre, but fortunately, Edmond and Osbert are not harmed. The family returns to their now unoccupied farm, where they try to recover.

Six years pass, and Daisy is now an adult. Her father, eventually, called her back to America, but in her adulthood, Daisy has made the decision to return to the family farm. Edmond is initially upset that she left him, seeing it as a betrayal, but Daisy demonstrates her commitment to their love when she nurses him back to health from the lingering PTSD he developed from the massacre. Daisy decides to stay in England, with her true, chosen family.



Meg Rosoff is an American author and ex-pat based in London. She has written a number of books for children, including the novels How I Live Now, Picture Me Gone, and The Bride's Farewell. She has also written a few picture books and middle-grade novels. How I Live Now won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and the Printz Award. Rosoff has also won a Carnegie Medal, a Whitbread Award, and many others. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and received an Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for lifetime achievement in writing.