I've said before that I'm a bit of a hard sell on dystopia or post-apocalyptic books. This one falls into the category of books that worked for me in those categories.
The book was originally published in German in 1968, but it feels timeless. The unnamed narrator has gone to visit friends in an Alpine hunting lodge in spring. Her friends decide to go into the local village for a drink one night, and she stays behind. When she wakes the next morning, she's alone. Alarmed, she tries to walk into the village to find them, and walks into a wall. Literally. A clear wall that has arisen overnight, blocking her from the rest of the world, and the rest of the world from her.
It soon becomes apparent that having stayed in the hunting lodge saved her life. From behind the wall, she can see a nearby farm, and realizes the old farmer couple are dead (they're outdoors). Behind the wall, it's our narrator, a dog, and a cat. It's up to her to try and survive, even as she slowly realizes no one is coming for her. There are no planes, no radio connection, nothing.
This is a book without much of a plot. Mostly it's the narrator trying to come to terms with what has happened and figuring out how to survive, even though that means doing things like killing deer for meat when she's extremely fond of animals and doesn't want to harm them. She has a few basic skills and acceptable physical strength to get her through the most primitive tasks, but she's not superhuman. But she is human, and her emotions and how she copes with them and overcomes them to focus on the arduous task of staying alive--even if she's not sure why she should stay alive--make up a large part of the book.
Part of my problem with dystopia comes with books like Station Eleven, in which people hang out around the Great Lakes and yet never seem to worry about preparing for winter. The Wall doesn't have that problem. Surviving each season, finding food and figuring out some ways to preserve it when possible, caring for the dog and cat--there are all real and persistent problems.
But the book is also about the human condition, as cliched as that sounds. It's one I'll return to.