Failure in Time is the thrilling, thought-provoking debut from author Kitty Morgan—a dystopian fantasy for middle-grade readers that blends high-stakes adventure with powerful themes of friendship, trust, and confronting the consequences of our actions. Set in the crumbling depths of London Under, this gripping story follows sixteen-year-old Failure as she navigates shadowy organisations, rebel allies, and the mysteries of time travel, all while facing her own inner battles.
We spoke to Kitty about the inspirations behind her debut novel, how her background in theatre shaped her storytelling, and why she believes young readers are ready to tackle stories that mirror today’s environmental challenges and social pressures.
Coming May 22nd — Failure in Time is available to pre-order from Amazon, Waterstones, and all good bookshops.
Where did the idea for Failure in Time first come from?
The idea for Failure in Time came to me when I was at a writing group with the playwright Diane Samuels. We were all handed a stimulus material to write a short piece about, and I got a greeting card which was an image of a little baby in a bathtub with bubbles popping all around her. The baby had a full face of makeup on, in a very 1950s kitsch kind of way. This image just stuck with me. I couldn’t get it out of my head, and I started writing little bits. I called the child “Failure”, and that bathtub scene actually happens in the book. But I can’t say why, because I’d be giving away a big old plot twist which is very, very top secret. So you’ll have to read the book to find out why.
The story is set in a flooded, dystopian version of London. What drew you to that setting?
At the time I was writing the book, I’d lived in London for about ten years. I used to wander around Greenwich Park for hours and hours by myself. I would stand at the top of the brow of the hill, looking out over the London Eye, the river curving its way around, the skyscrapers in the distance and slowly I started to imagine what would happen if the river was flooding. What would happen if Greenwich Park was the very last bit of high ground in all of London? These were the early seeds of the world that would emerge — and the monsters, and the nastites, and the toxic waters that would rise and slowly eat London, and the rest of the world, alive.
The world of Failure in Time is rich and layered. How did you go about building it?
The world in Failure in Time is our world. It’s set in the UK, travelling from London, which is now called London Under because it’s flooding, to Norwich on Sea, to Edinburgh, and an island off Edinburgh called Isle in Moor.
All of these places have a place in my heart. I usually can’t help it but write this world around the places that do mean something to me. Places I’ve either lived in or travelled to, or have some significance
How does the book reflect real-world issues?
Failure in Time does reflect real-world issues that are going on within our society at the moment. It tackles poverty, it deals with climate change in a really extreme, really grandiose fashion, and I hope these things will ring true for the readers. And that whilst Failure in Time is set in a completely dystopian, nightmarish vision of the future, they should also feel somewhat at home.
The characters have striking names like Failure, Despair, and Torment. What do these names represent?
Failure lives in a world that is slowly being consumed by a very mysterious and very dangerous flooding, which is full of monsters and other horrors. Everybody in the world knows this, and so all the people who’ve been having children for the last twenty-five years have been giving the children’s names to the goddess that all the people believe rules over the world.
They give them their names, so they give the goddess the despair, the loss, or the doom, and this is a sort of sacrificial offering that’s been made by the people of the world in the hope that she is merciful and that she will save them. So far, she is clearly not impressed.
What do you hope young readers will take away from Failure’s journey?
Failure’s journey in this novel is absolutely a story of making friends and trusting. Failure, at the outset of this novel, absolutely trusts no one. She has no friends — she doesn’t know how to have friends. Through the course of her adventure, she gradually learns how to do so.
So, if there’s anything I’d love young people to take away from reading this book, it would be that sometimes you find your friends a bit later on. And sometimes you find your friends in really strange ways. And sometimes your friends are already right there and you just need to recognise them.
What were some of the biggest challenges — and joys — of writing your debut novel?
I wrote Failure in Time during lockdown. I had two very young children at the time, and my parents would sit on Zoom with my eldest whilst my youngest was having his nap, and I would spend that hour every single day writing. It was the biggest escape and joy, and I am so grateful that I was able to do that. It was what kept me sane, it gave me something to think about, to focus on, and I really inhabited that world of London Under. All of the Failure in Time, crises, monsters, dramas, and love — these things were what absolutely got me through lockdown and I will always love it because of that.
That was both a challenge and a joy. This is also my debut novel, I mostly write for theatre — plays and musicals — and it’s a very different beast writing a novel. It’s a very private and lonely experience, but I absolutely loved it.
If you could travel to any time period, past or future, where would you go and why?
I feel like this is so predictable, but I just want to go and see the Tudors. I just want to meet Henry VIII and probably fall madly in love with him. Probably get my head chopped off. In fact, certainly get my head chopped off. It’s a guarantee. But I’m still going to go. I want to wear the dresses, I want to go to a Tudor banquet, I want to go to a Tudor ballroom, and I want to meet all of the courtiers. I want to smell the smells and see the sights, and ride a horse with Henry VIII. So, it’s a no-brainer for me — I’m going to the Tudors.
Can readers expect more adventures in this world, or from these characters?
Failure in Time is book one in the ‘Drowning World’ series. So, yes, readers can expect more from Failure in the Future. She is merely at the beginning of her journey, and this is just part one of the things that are to come for her. We’ve got a world to save! There’s a rebellion afoot! There’s a long way to go!
Failure in Time is available to pre-order from Amazon, Waterstones, and all good bookshops.
