Paperback, 291 pages
English language
Published Oct. 11, 2016 by 47North.
When she fell asleep, the world was doomed. When she awoke, it was dead.
In the wake of a fever that decimated the earth’s population—killing women and children and making childbirth deadly for the mother and infant—the midwife must pick her way through the bones of the world she once knew to find her place in this dangerous new one. Gone are the pillars of civilization. All that remains is power—and the strong who possess it.
A few women like her survived, though they are scarce. Even fewer are safe from the clans of men, who, driven by fear, seek to control those remaining. To preserve her freedom, she dons men’s clothing, goes by false names, and avoids as many people as possible. But as the world continues to grapple with its terrible circumstances, she’ll discover a role greater than chasing a pale imitation of independence.
After all, if humanity …
When she fell asleep, the world was doomed. When she awoke, it was dead.
In the wake of a fever that decimated the earth’s population—killing women and children and making childbirth deadly for the mother and infant—the midwife must pick her way through the bones of the world she once knew to find her place in this dangerous new one. Gone are the pillars of civilization. All that remains is power—and the strong who possess it.
A few women like her survived, though they are scarce. Even fewer are safe from the clans of men, who, driven by fear, seek to control those remaining. To preserve her freedom, she dons men’s clothing, goes by false names, and avoids as many people as possible. But as the world continues to grapple with its terrible circumstances, she’ll discover a role greater than chasing a pale imitation of independence.
After all, if humanity is to be reborn, someone must be its guide.
Really dark, but good.
This book took me completely by surprise and was honestly so hard to put down. The writing style, alternating between diary entries and neutral narration added such an immersive element to an already super harrowing plot. Earlier this year I read Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich and Red Clocks by Leni Zumas, and knowing that this book came out in 2014, it's interesting to see how it certainly laid the foundation for dystopian books focused on reproduction. Definitely not the happiest book I've read, probably not the best time in our political climate to read about messed up stuff happening to women & families, but this book was amazing nonetheless.
I don't know how to approach this. I don't enjoy post-apocalyptic novels. This one features a virus that kills most of humanity, but is just a bit more lethal for females than males. This causes various forms of sexual tension, a lot of forced breeding, and just bad times.
As much as I want to say something like that wouldn't happen, I think I might be lying to myself.
I wonder if an appropriate comparison would water in Water World to human females in The Book of the Unnamed Midwife. Or some other scarce resource? In any case, the writer does understand resource scarcity, and what can happen in such a situation, and presents it in disturbing ways. (And yet, the inner economist in me is happy that someone got it right, even if I am appalled by the results).
I found the ending reasonable. I'm not sure if …
I don't know how to approach this. I don't enjoy post-apocalyptic novels. This one features a virus that kills most of humanity, but is just a bit more lethal for females than males. This causes various forms of sexual tension, a lot of forced breeding, and just bad times.
As much as I want to say something like that wouldn't happen, I think I might be lying to myself.
I wonder if an appropriate comparison would water in Water World to human females in The Book of the Unnamed Midwife. Or some other scarce resource? In any case, the writer does understand resource scarcity, and what can happen in such a situation, and presents it in disturbing ways. (And yet, the inner economist in me is happy that someone got it right, even if I am appalled by the results).
I found the ending reasonable. I'm not sure if I'll continue the series, but that's less a comment on the book or the series, and my general reluctance to read series of books, especially when they're not all published. But the ending is good enough that I don't feel that I am required to keep reading.
I have read a shit-ton of post-apocalyptic books, but this is by far one of my favorites, if not my favorite. It’s amazing how much the same old post-apocalyptic plot can transform when it’s a woman author. I could completely immerse myself in the story because I could see myself in her shoes, raiding for birth control at pharmacies and being stricken with fear at having to navigate a world where your body is your biggest and most dangerous threat—in more ways than one. It wasn’t just gratuitous violence and gore, but expertly woven themes of remembering what humanity used to be and reconciling it with what it’s become, along with an appropriately sprinkled amount of dead body descriptions and murder. Really glad I found it.
I didn't really know what to expect when I picked this up - I initially was sorta reserved as the cover lended itself to the bog standard thriller category of which I have no interest in, but it popped up in the sci-fi category elsewhere.... and...
I'm really glad I got over that reservation! This is a really tight, phenomenal and dark book. The post-apocalyptic genre has become saturate with some tiresome stuff, but this goes beyond. There's no impossible heroics, but the behaviour of those left behind is both galling and fascinating.
a journey, dark in the depths of despair, yet still to persevere
