Widowland, by CJ Carey - Paul
It’s 1953 and Britain is on the eve of the second coronation of Edward VIII, thirteen years after a pact with Nazi Germany. Rose Ransom is in an elite class of women and works for the Ministry of Culture, bringing works of literature into line with Nazi ideals. Meanwhile, acts of vandalism involving lines of text from forbidden books are being blamed on women who are forced to live in the run-down ghetto known as Widowland. As an expert in the works the rebellious women are quoting, Rose is tasked to uncover the source before The Leader arrives in England…
I love good speculative and dystopian fiction, especially those set in a believable alternate reality. The reality portrayed here is all too believable, with well-rounded characters and a sense of the early 1950s in our reality with an Orwellian overlay of suspicion and paranoia. The result is a feminist thriller, with elements of Robert Harris' Fatherland and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
This could be a good book club read, as there’s a lot to discuss, but it’s also written with a style that makes it enjoyable despite the dystopian setting.
- Paul
