What is a woman? A witch? A wife? A mother? That’s the question posed in Red Clocks by Leni Zumas.
Red Clocks – the blurb
In this ferociously imaginative novel, abortion is once again illegal in America, in-vitro fertilization is banned, and the Personhood Amendment grants rights of life, liberty, and property to every embryo.
In a small Oregon fishing town, five very different women navigate these new barriers alongside age-old questions surrounding motherhood, identity, and freedom. Ro, a single high-school teacher, is trying to have a baby on her own, while also writing a biography of Eivor, a little-known 19th-century female polar explorer.
Susan is a frustrated mother of two, trapped in a crumbling marriage. Mattie is the adopted daughter of doting parents and one of Ro’s best students, who finds herself pregnant with nowhere to turn. And Gin is the gifted, forest-dwelling herbalist, or “mender,” who brings all their fates together when she’s arrested and put on trial in a frenzied modern-day witch hunt.
No Handmaids here
Don’t be swayed by the references to Handmaid around the book. It is not Handmaid. Yes it is dystopia, yet it’s frightening how quickly Red Clocks could become real. In our woke society, surely it is only a matter of time before embryos are given rights meaning IVF is illegal as the embryo can’t give its consent. Handmaid, though disturbing, doesn’t feel as real as this does.
From the (fictional) polar explorer fighting prejudice every step of the way to the Wife contemplating crash barriers I adored the 5 main characters in the book and their differing roles that define women. Each one felt like they had a place and really contributed to the book. The discussion around the women, their choices and lives would make for such a good book club book. Oh the dissection that could take place over a glass or two.
Now there’s a tale
But more than anything I actually enjoyed the story. The little observations, the inner monologues, the connection to the sea. I found it imaginative, original and I really couldn’t predict which way each story would turn out. Zumas takes women, young and old, past and present and examines their defined roles at every turn. Stay in your lane, keep in your box. What is a woman without children? A wife without a husband? When is the right age to have a child? Career v parenthood? God forbid you should do anything over the expected norm. But then what if you have the norm and crave an escape? I told you it would make a good book club book!
Upon its release it fell slightly under the radar but I’m so pleased I found it and I really hope you read (and enjoy) it too.
