"Land of Milk and Honey" by C. Pam Zhang (2023)

"We cackled with the hysteria of escapees.  She seized my hand.  So you get it.  The same systems and rationales that led us to this point, that have reduced global biodiversity by ninety-six percent in the last century -- we can't cave to shortsighted demands.  That's why we hide most of our animals and crops belowground.  We bribe the officials to stay away, and we lie.  They'd destroy our work if they found it.  Give this land over to humans and it would be gutted, stripped, in a week."

C. Pam Zhang is a Chinese American writer.  Aside from Land of Milk and Honey she's written one other book, How Much of These Hills is Gold.

In Land of Milk and Honey a mass of "smog" resulting from an unexplained agricultural experiment in the American Midwest covers the Earth, resulting in a widespread loss of biodiversity.  The protagonist, an American refugee living in Europe, gains employment at a high altitude scientific research facility, both refining her craft as a chef and learning firsthand to what lengths the rich will go in their simultaneous denial and acceptance of an end to the world order they rely upon.

More than that I will not say, mostly because this is a short book.  In Land of Milk and Honey we observe a writer at the height of her prowess, telling a story that is, as far as I could ascertain, airtight in every respect.  Has this book been optioned as a movie?  If not, someone at a studio really needs to get on that.

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