SOLVED. YA Post-Apocalyptic: Pandemic causes accelerated ageing. Read 1980s/1990s. [s]

[Rajan]

The novel is about a pandemic that starts in Asia, and was initially thought to only be a threat to the elderly, but then starts killing younger and younger people. (You can imagine why this book has been on my mind recently).

The pandemic in this case starts in India rather than China (but see Delta Variant). It causes the victims, even children, to grow old and die in a matter of days/weeks. It affects virtually everyone, and depopulates the world before anyone can figure out a response.

The protagonist is a school boy (older teen?) and lives in Europe or North America. He is among the one-in-a-million immune, and has has to learn to survive in an empty world. He eventually meets two young women who likewise survived. He forms a relationship with one but the other tries to murder him. The novel ends with the couple deciding to take the murderous friend back in spite of the threat she poses, rather than abandoning her in the empty world.

[David]

Found a solved thread which seems pretty similar here

The book was Empty World by John Christopher, published in 1977.

[Kris]

Rajan, what's the genre (which we need to add to the header/ topic title) - e.g., YA science fiction, dystopia, post apocalyptic, horror, etc.?

[David]

The header already says YA?

[Kris]

"YA" is too general in this large group. That applies to roughly half of our requests.

[Rajan]

I’d call it YA post-apocalyptic. There isn’t enough of a society left to call it dystopian.

[Andy Phillips]

I think David's right. It sounds a lot like Empty World.

[Rajan]

Thank you all very much! Yes, it was Empty World.

I had no idea the same author had also written ‘The Death of Grass’ and the Tripods series, both of which I remember reading as a teenager.

[Andy Phillips]

You even used the phrase 'empty world' in your description! Glad you found it.

The Death of Grass is a great book, if you can find a copy. I think it was also published as 'No More Grass' or something like that.