Surplus to Requirements

A gripping novel that imagines a near-future Britain where growing old has become a crime. A 79-year-old woman receives official notification that she is now 'surplus to population requirements' under the state's Required to Die Act. She refuses to comply and begins a perilous journey north towards Free Scotland.

The 'Required to Die Act' has changed everything. On the eve of her eightieth birthday, the Old'un receives the message every citizen dreads: her life is now officially surplus to requirements. But instead of accepting the State-issued lethal dose, she chooses to disappear. Armed with little more than memory, stubborn hope, and the stories that have shaped her life, she begins a dangerous journey north along the Wall towards the border of Free Scotland. Along the way she encounters hidden communities, unlikely companions, acts of brutality, and moments of extraordinary kindness. Part dystopian thriller, part pilgrimage, Surplus to Requirements is a story about resistance, compassion, ageing and faith, and about what remains when society decides some lives no longer matter. Rooted in northern landscapes, memory and spiritual imagination, it is at once a warning and a testament: to the stubborn resilience of ordinary people who refuse to surrender their humanity.