The Chrysalids is a science fiction story by John Wyndham, a popular twentieth-century British writer. It takes place in the future, many years after a nuclear war has devastated large areas of the world. The society of Waknuk in Labrador has survived, but it is a primitive agricultural theocracy reminiscent of Salem, Massachusetts at the time of the Salem witch-hunts. However, in Waknuk it isn't witches but mutants that the people fear. Radiation from the war still causes frequent mutations in plants, animals and humans and the people adhere to a strict religious code, which does not tole…
