What does dystopia look like in the suburbs?

Even if you’re living in a dystopia, life goes on. Carrianne Leung’s new novel, Wonderland Road , is about making it work and finding hope in a collapsing society. In a world where basic structures of society fall apart and a mega-corporation rules all, the people of a small suburban community must figure out how to move forward — even when they don’t quite know where “forward” leads. Much like Carrianne’s other work, Wonderland Road explores the tensions that live within families and communities, and though it takes place in the future, familiar divisions of power, class, race and gender are hiding in plain sight. This week, Carrianne tells Mattea Roach about finding hope in a dystopia, her love for Scarborough and why the original protagonist of the book was a raccoon. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Writing about catastrophe gives Madeleine Thien courage How long could you lie about who you are? Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

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What does dystopia look like in the suburbs? is an episode from Writers and Company from CBC Radio by CBC.

This episode is 00:28:57 long.

This episode was published on Apr 19, 2026.

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