In ‘The Island of Last Things,' a reimagined Alcatraz bears witness to the end of the wild

San Francisco Chronicle​

15 hours ago

In the near-future world Emma Sloley brings to life in her second novel, 'The Island of Last Things,' San Francisco Bay pulses with jellyfish, the Marin hills have succumbed to perma-fires and the island of Alcatraz has become the last zoo in the world.
To many of the characters that inhabit Sloley's novel, due out Tuesday, Aug. 12, the prison of Alcatraz and the zoo that now occupies its rocky landscape have become a beacon of hope for some of the last species on the planet. To others, it is more of a museum, where the memory of these animals — elephants, wolves, birds and more — are already passing on into history like so many other now extinct species before them.
But to all, in this near-future, where billionaires and cartel gangs vie to exploit and protect these animals, the idea of this place exists like a mirror for our own humanity. Or, as the Australian-born Sloley, who divides her writing time between Mérida, Mexico and California, told the Chronicle, 'To live in the Anthropocene is to live with extinction, even when it's happening out of sight.'
This 'cautionary tale,' as Sloley calls it, is all too present in the pages of 'The Island of Last Things,' where her two main characters — a younger, idealistic zookeeper named Camille, and a new edition to the staff, but a far more experienced hand with animals, Sailor — begin to question the commercialization of these animals. Those with the ability to pay an exorbitant entrance fee are described as releasing a 'reverent gasp' upon hearing they are looking at the last animal of their kind.
'There was something distasteful about how much the guests perked up when you told them an animal was the last of its kind,' Sloley writes in an early chapter narrated by Camille. 'Like it conferred a special status on them to be so close to an extinction.'
This feeling, which steadily builds to a breaking point in the novel, inhabits every waking hour of Sailor's life, and, in turn, infects Camille, especially when Sailor first brings up the rumor of a sanctuary where animals can roam free.
'Sailor especially wants to write a different story than the one she sees unfolding,' Sloley told the Chronicle. 'She understands more than any other character that a better world doesn't just arrive, you have to go out and create it.'
This desire is what 'The Island of Last Things' is all about. It is the core of what drives Camille's and Sailor's stories and makes the novel an important, engaging read, filled with the hope for what could be, all while the characters of this world live through what is.
'While the idea of a mass die-off of animals and plants may be far-fetched in reality,' she said, 'The forces that come together to exploit these tragedies in the story are all too believable.'
Like all good books of fiction, 'The Island of Last Things' tells a real-world story that could be a few degrees of separation from our present-day world. For research, the author made it a point to visit zoos and talk to zookeepers. 'You learn a lot of fascinating insider intel about zoo life,' she said, 'But one of the biggest takeaways for me was how utterly devoted these employees are to the animals in their care.'
Sloley expanded on her research by leaning into conversations she had with a Philadelphia-based architect who specializes in zoo design, Greg Dykstra: 'His insights about the relationship between animals and their environments have been so illuminating. Zoo design demands a delicate balance: satisfying both the human visitors' desire to observe and feel close to the animals in a natural-feeling environment, and the desire of the residents to live healthy, stress-free lives.'
In addition to this, Sloley spoke about encountering the term umwelt, a German word that, roughly translated, applies to the environment and how animals and humans perceive and interact with their environment through their many senses, like sight, touch and sound.
'I think it's a really beautiful idea and a way into understanding and empathizing with the other living beings with whom we share this planet.'
Sloley visited the real Alcatraz Island several times during the course of writing the book, and played up its 'funhouse' qualities. 'I wanted the tours to project a utopian fantasy where animals and nature are restored to an Edenic state, but it's all just smoke and mirrors.'
With 'The Island of Last Things,' Sloley has created a work of activism, where the stories within exist not simply as a way to understand this world, but as a way to understand our own. It is a beautiful depiction of a changing landscape, often highlighted by startling lines of prose that focus the reader's attention not just on the characters, but inward on oneself.
Yet despite the dangerous world created by Sloley in 'The Island of Last Things,' there is reason to be optimistic. 'Much like Sailor, I think it's important to reject doomerism. We need to fight with urgency to protect our wild spaces, our right to breathable air and drinkable water and our right to live joyful and free lives, but the future isn't written yet. All of us get to write it, and that collective project feels like the essence of hope to me.'