A Wrinkle In The Skin (also known as The Ragged Edge) is a 1965 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel written by the English author John Christopher.

[1] A massive series of powerful earthquakes on a worldwide scale reduce towns and cities to rubble and plunge the few survivors into barbarism.

Most of western Europe is dramatically uplifted, transforming the English Channel into a muddy desert, while elsewhere lands are plunged below sealevel and flooded.

He and his companion, a young boy named Billy, meet a captain who has lost his mind, in his ship on the bottom of the Channel.

They are welcomed heartily, provided with food, clothes, and lodging, and even shown movies, but forbidden to take any provisions with them when they leave.