Separation is the sequel novel to
Exodus UK by
Richard Rohmer, a Canadian author who has extensive experience in the energy sector and applied that knowledge to his books of the 1970s and 1980s. It was released in 1976.
This book contains examples of:
- Earn Your Happy Ending:
- Canada goes through a wrenching Quebec secession crisis, which ends up rendering the French-Speaking Prime Minister incapacitated as he sees no good way out of the political mess he's in, forcing the English-Speaking Deputy PM to step in and handle the day to day functioning of government.
- The UK faces years of economic and social turmoil made worse by some incautious moves by the majority government of the day, which throws the election to the Opposition when the writ is dropped and elections occur.
- But all is not lost! A Deus ex Machina (actually fairly typical of Rohmer's books) comes along in the form of a fortuitous assassination of the Saudi official responsible for spearheading the disinvestment drive, and a huge new oil discovery in the North Sea, far more than had previously been discovered. Quebec ends up narrowly not separating, and it is strongly hinted that one reason for this is the fact that millions of Britons will not need to enter Canada anymore.
- Expy: The Prime Minister of the UK, Jeremy Sands, is clearly intended to be reminiscent of Harold Wilson. Similarly, Marion Thrasher for Margaret Thatcher. In Canada, Joseph Roussel is somewhat reminiscent of Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
