The Long Way Back

by Margot Bennett

Sci-fi novel, set in Britain in future, where a small expedition from Africa searches for traces of a legendary civilization that existed before the atomic blast. They find dense forests inhabited by mutant animals and stone age people, but also one intelligent survivor.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Scottish author Margot Bennett was born in 1912 and worked first first as a copywriter in the UK and Australia and then as a nurse during the Spanish Civil War before turning to writing. Her output in crime fiction was relatively small, yet successful: The Man Who Didn't Fly was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger and was runner-up to Charlotte Armstrong's A Dram of Poison for Best Novel at the Edgars in 1956, and she won the Gold Dagger two years later in 1958 with Someone from the Past. She was also chosen to contribute a short story to the second CWA anthology, Choice Of Weapons, edited by Michael Gilbert.

Reviews

[Sue Chant · Rating 2 out of 5]

African researchers visit Britain to find out about the primitive, stone-age natives and perhaps discover a lost golden city.
This 1950s novel is a bit disappointing. The "Africans" all act and sound like stereotypical white Brits, the term "Africa" is used throughout as if to describe a country instead of a vast continent, the whole thing seems like typical western parochialism.
Most of the characters are male; the only female with a speaking part is officious, incompetent, and of course falls in love with the protagonist (sigh). It's not sharp enough to be satire, nor well-imagined enough to be interesting science-fiction.

[Joachim Boaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...

3.25/5 (Above Average)

"I’m always on the lookout for lesser-known SF works by female authors. And Margot Bennett’s The Long Way Back (1954) certainly fits the bill. Bennett (1912-1980), a Scottish-born screenwriter and author of primarily crime and thriller novels, lead a fascinating life before her writing [...]"

[Oliver Brackenbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading about an expedition from an African nation to investigate the primitive natives of an England literally bombed back into the stone age is an interesting mental exercise, if nothing else. More than once I found my mind defaulting the explorers to look like white colonials, and their closest native friend - a white Briton named Brown - as being vaguely PoC. It’s good to be forced to realize how culture has programmed you, I reckon!

As a story? Not bad, slows a bit much in the middle, but kept me turning pages at a good clip.