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A review by bruacioly
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
5.0
It's rare that a book will speak equally to my brain and my heart.
Red Clocks begins with a simple premise, which might seem like a dystopian to some, the beginning of what eventually happens in The Handmaid's Tale; but is actually both a reality in some developing countries and quite possible to happen in countries in which conservative men have risen to power (ahem!): abortion is illegal, in vitro insemination is illegal and in the works is coming a law that will make single parent adoptive families illegal. To people from the USA, it might seem awful, but I must say that some of these are realities in many other countries. Abortion is illegal in Brazil (though a few exceptions are sometimes granted: to save the mother's life or in case of rape and in some cases of embryo deformity not compatible with life) and many Latin American countries, as well as most of Africa and Asia have those restrictions. In some countries (though they are a minority), it is illegal without exception. So, yeah, not such a crazy reality to imagine, so this book feels much more contemporary than dystopian to me.
With this premise, the book chronicles a slice of life of five women: The Biographer (Ro Stephens) who really wants to have a baby but can't and divides her time between this now obsession, her life as a high school history teacher and writing the biography of an obscure female polar explorer (The Explorer - Eivor Minervudottir) from the 19th century, whose discoveries had to be published under the name of a man because no-one would believe a female would have made this kind of scientific contribution.
She is submitting her area to all kinds of invasion without understanding a fraction of what's being done to it
The Mender (Gin Percival) is the local witch, though she is not exactly a with, but simply someone who prefers to live away from human company and who understands the laws of nature and knows how to manipulate them in a way that might seem magical but it is really a form of science. The Mender helps women who need solutions society won't give them.
On the first night, the mender asked what that noise was and learned it was the ocean. "But when does it stop?" "Never," said her aunt. "It's perpetual, though impermanent."
The Daughter (Mattie Quarles), who is adopted by a loving (though conservative) pair of elderly parents, finds herself pregnant and with no desire to carry on the pregnancy. The child feels like an invasion on her body, of which she wishes to get rid of.
Sixteen years ago abortion was legal in every state. Why did she spend nine months growing the daughter if she was just going to give her up?
The Wife (Susan Korsmo) who has two kids, isn't affected by any of those laws, but is unhappy in her married life with no other perspective other than staying married. That makes her bitter towards other women, who seemingly have both better and worse than she does at the same time.
How do you help a cinder, half-alive? Run over it fast to stop the burning.
The books switches between these four perspectives (with bits about the explorer contained in the biographer's book), in a form of experimental writing. I realized it might not be for everyone. The chronology is not linear and the writing itself is not straight forward. For me, those were the things that made this book. I also, for some reason connected with each of the characters, rooted for them, felt their pain and felt them were real and alive and their sufferings were both strange and familiar at once. Other than that, the plot kept me interested, there were plenty of moments in which you make connections between the lives of the different characters, which were very satisfying.
I kept wanting to read it on and on, and that is always amazing.
Like I said at the beginning, this book spoke to my heart, which craves this empathy for characters and a plot that keeps you interested the whole way through. It's not plot heavy, there are some high stakes, but it is really more a "slice-of-life" kind of story, which I did enjoy, though I don't always. It also spoked to my brain, because the writing was well crafted, the discussions it rises were poignant.
I would have to recommend this book for discussion purposes, for people who are unsure whether they support abortion or unsure if they are feminists. Or if you already sure, this will inflame you with much needed desire to "not just shake your head, but do something about it" to paraphrase the book's words.
A note: this book does not address how these laws would affect homosexual or otherwise non-binary people and couples, which I felt it was both a missed opportunity and a very big slight, because those realities and stories are equally important.
To quit shrinking life to a checked box, a calendar square. To quit shaking her head. (...) To be okay with not knowing. (...) To see what is. And to see what is possible.
Red Clocks begins with a simple premise, which might seem like a dystopian to some, the beginning of what eventually happens in The Handmaid's Tale; but is actually both a reality in some developing countries and quite possible to happen in countries in which conservative men have risen to power (ahem!): abortion is illegal, in vitro insemination is illegal and in the works is coming a law that will make single parent adoptive families illegal. To people from the USA, it might seem awful, but I must say that some of these are realities in many other countries. Abortion is illegal in Brazil (though a few exceptions are sometimes granted: to save the mother's life or in case of rape and in some cases of embryo deformity not compatible with life) and many Latin American countries, as well as most of Africa and Asia have those restrictions. In some countries (though they are a minority), it is illegal without exception. So, yeah, not such a crazy reality to imagine, so this book feels much more contemporary than dystopian to me.
With this premise, the book chronicles a slice of life of five women: The Biographer (Ro Stephens) who really wants to have a baby but can't and divides her time between this now obsession, her life as a high school history teacher and writing the biography of an obscure female polar explorer (The Explorer - Eivor Minervudottir) from the 19th century, whose discoveries had to be published under the name of a man because no-one would believe a female would have made this kind of scientific contribution.
She is submitting her area to all kinds of invasion without understanding a fraction of what's being done to it
The Mender (Gin Percival) is the local witch, though she is not exactly a with, but simply someone who prefers to live away from human company and who understands the laws of nature and knows how to manipulate them in a way that might seem magical but it is really a form of science. The Mender helps women who need solutions society won't give them.
On the first night, the mender asked what that noise was and learned it was the ocean. "But when does it stop?" "Never," said her aunt. "It's perpetual, though impermanent."
The Daughter (Mattie Quarles), who is adopted by a loving (though conservative) pair of elderly parents, finds herself pregnant and with no desire to carry on the pregnancy. The child feels like an invasion on her body, of which she wishes to get rid of.
Sixteen years ago abortion was legal in every state. Why did she spend nine months growing the daughter if she was just going to give her up?
The Wife (Susan Korsmo) who has two kids, isn't affected by any of those laws, but is unhappy in her married life with no other perspective other than staying married. That makes her bitter towards other women, who seemingly have both better and worse than she does at the same time.
How do you help a cinder, half-alive? Run over it fast to stop the burning.
The books switches between these four perspectives (with bits about the explorer contained in the biographer's book), in a form of experimental writing. I realized it might not be for everyone. The chronology is not linear and the writing itself is not straight forward. For me, those were the things that made this book. I also, for some reason connected with each of the characters, rooted for them, felt their pain and felt them were real and alive and their sufferings were both strange and familiar at once. Other than that, the plot kept me interested, there were plenty of moments in which you make connections between the lives of the different characters, which were very satisfying.
I kept wanting to read it on and on, and that is always amazing.
Like I said at the beginning, this book spoke to my heart, which craves this empathy for characters and a plot that keeps you interested the whole way through. It's not plot heavy, there are some high stakes, but it is really more a "slice-of-life" kind of story, which I did enjoy, though I don't always. It also spoked to my brain, because the writing was well crafted, the discussions it rises were poignant.
I would have to recommend this book for discussion purposes, for people who are unsure whether they support abortion or unsure if they are feminists. Or if you already sure, this will inflame you with much needed desire to "not just shake your head, but do something about it" to paraphrase the book's words.
A note: this book does not address how these laws would affect homosexual or otherwise non-binary people and couples, which I felt it was both a missed opportunity and a very big slight, because those realities and stories are equally important.
To quit shrinking life to a checked box, a calendar square. To quit shaking her head. (...) To be okay with not knowing. (...) To see what is. And to see what is possible.