Book Review: When She Woke

I've been trying to get this feminist book club off the ground for a few weeks. The first book on the list is When She Woke by Hillary Jordan. Personally, I was sold on this book after this Washington Post review. The Washington Post was not impressed by the novel mostly because the large amount of blame perceived to be placed on Christians, which is indicative of their lack of understanding of the novel. The most striking aspect of the novel is the way the main character questions her faith and the behavior of those around her, but also her own. How quickly decisions spiral out of control for the heroine. When considering the motto of the resistance movement in the novel, "It's personal," the reader must understand that the origins of the oppressive policies become less important than the choices of the main character. That it not to say they don't matter at all, but the emphasis is placed on the choices individuals make.

So a brief run down: distopian future where fundamentalist Christians have taken over in a states' rights kind of revolution following a superclap outbreak (a little poignant given the antibiotic resistant strain of gonorrhea recently in the news). They passed personhood on a massive scale when women were rendered infertile by the superclap; abortion is now prosecuted as murder. Additionally, budget constraints resulted in melachroming, a treatment which colors your skin depending on your crime along with other punishments, and then the criminals are leased they live as social pariahs. Our heroine, Hannah Payne (i.e. Hester Prynne) wakes up red, for murder, specifically abortion. Then the novel details her trials after her release from the Chrome facility. Violence, rape, and exploitation are daily fears for all the Chromes, but red females are rare, which makes them more of a target. Then there is a resistance movement to overthrow these restrictive laws with the motto, "It's personal." Which is similar to what Hannah told the police about the man who impregnated her and the doctor who performed her abortion.

The major themes are pretty straight forward feminist principles: 1. medical procedures and sexual history are personal, 2. the personal is political, and 3. regardless of crime violence is unacceptable. There are minor discussions of sexuality but not sexual orientation, instead discusses of sexuality focus more around the rights individuals have regarding their sexuality. The resistance movement resembles the underground railroad and is full of dangers. Actually, it is a very good depiction of how similar the vigilant movement and the resistance movements are and how they mirror the government's actions or in actions.

However, the little things what make this a good novel, particularly the seemingly insignificant things which have a huge impact on Hannah. For example, her mixed feelings on her first menstruation after her abortion, which signifies that the procedure was not only successful, but that she was still fertile. Then for her to remember that after being found guilty of an abortion/murder, she will never be permitted to be pregnant again. The humiliation Hannah feels at almost every step of the novel.

Jordan tells a quick paced story, perhaps she tries to cram too much into the novel. She draws largely from Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter  and Atwood's Handmaid's Tale. I'm giving it a solid 4.5/5. Of course, I'm partial to the novels Jordan pulls from as well.