"Chiming chillingly with the #MeToo movement and The Handmaid’s Tale, this searing dystopian debut explores a dissolute puritanical society in which women are silenced and wholly subjected to male control."
Jean lives in an America in which women have been forced to surrender all freedoms and are restricted to speaking 100 words a day, for the new government has decreed that women need to be Pure. They need to learn a lesson, as do gays and lesbians, who’ve been herded into camps. As to how this happened, the novel is sharp on collective collusion, and also shows the consequences of the coward’s sidestepping “I was only following orders” excuse. Indeed, the excruciating personal repercussions of the new regime are piercingly portrayed. Jean doesn’t have enough words to read bedtime stories to her daughter. One of her sons spouts patriarchal propaganda he’s picked up in class. Quite simply, it’s hard for her not to hate her male kin at times.
Then, Jean’s constraints in this censorious new world loosen a little when she’s told that the President’s brother has sustained a brain injury and her seminal aphasia research means she’s called on to cure him. As this powerful debut unfolds, undulating with personal conflicts and the discovery of sinister political programs, it also explores the essentialness of speech. It serves as a potent reminder to speak out when you’re able, for speech deprivation, whether due to force or illness, is a painful state of existence. Shocking, suspenseful and compulsive, this is a formidable cautionary tale for our time.
| Primary Genre | Thriller and Suspense |
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A brilliant pacey, tense and dark read which was impossible to put down. At first I thought it was going to be too similar to The Handmaid's Tale but I was wrong. Following the life of a woman in a version of the USA where she can only say 100 words a day, it is full of tension and twists - skilfully written.
This is such a dark, clever and thought-provoking book. At first I thought it was going to be too similar to The Handmaid's Tale but I was wrong. I found it so hard to put down - I desperately wanted to know what was coming next. The pace is brilliant and kept me hooked throughout. The characters are believable and the author has created so much empathy for them.
It follows the life of a family, specifically the mother, who are living in a version of the USA where females can only say 100 words a day. You can feel their frustration and fear as the story unravels, increased by the feelings of those she loves the most.
There are a couple of big twists, none of which I saw coming, which was great.... Read Full Review
A fast paced fantastic debut that will have you gripped, angered and cheering from the sidelines.
I was very excited to receive a copy of this book billed as the new Handmaid's Tale. A thought provoking dark dystopian novel and I believe it fits the bill. A terrifying book in a way, as it could actually happen.
Full of strong female characters who have been silenced but still speak volumes, full of hateful men who make you so angry you grip the book even tighter, but a couple of men who stand up and support the females. At one point in the book there is a line, “you know babes, I wonder if it was better when you didn’t talk” my mouth dropped in shock and I had to close the book for a few minutes.
A fast paced fantastic debut that will have you gripped, angered and cheering from the sidelines.... Read Full Review
A dark, dystopian thriller in which silence becomes a weapon against women.
Christina Dalcher has created a dystopian United States for this exciting thriller in which the government is in thrall to the doctrines of a fundamentalist Bible Belt preacher. This results in women being confined to the domestic realm, and their speech controlled by means of electric shock “bracelets” to a maximum of a hundred words a day. This is particularly distressing for the principal character, Dr Jean McClellan who was a cognitive linguist working on advanced medical solutions to speech problems following brain damage.
She is released from her purgatory because the government need her expertise but she discovers that all is not as it seems once she is back working with her previous scientific and medical colleagues.... Read Full Review
