When She Woke
 First edition | |
| Author | Hillary Jordan |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Alonquin Books (US) HarperCollins (UK/Canada) |
Publication date | October 2011 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 344 |
| ISBN | 978-1-56512-629-9 |
When She Woke is the second novel by American author Hillary Jordan, published in October 2011. It has been translated into French, Spanish, Turkish, German, Brazilian and Chinese.
Plot Introduction
When She Woke is a dystopian reimagining of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, set in a future theocratic America where rather than being imprisoned and rehabilitated, criminals are punished by being "chromed" - having their skin color genetically altered to fit their crime - and released into the general population to survive as best they can. Hannah Payne, the protagonist, has been chromed red for murder; she had an illegal abortion after becoming pregnant by a public figure whose identity she is determined to keep secret.
Recognition
It was long-listed for the 2013 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and a finalist in the 2012 Lambda Literary Awards. It was a Booklist Editor's Choice for Best Fiction of 2011, one of BookPage's Best Books of 2011, one of Publishers Weekly's Top Ten Literary Fiction picks for the fall and the #1 Indie Next pick for October 2011.
Reception
Reviews were mixed :
- Kathryn Savage writing in the Star Tribune concludes 'An inventive tale about a new America that has lost its way—whose values echo fundamentalism -- "When She Woke" is, at its heart, a tense, energetic and lively paced story about self-discovery and reclamation in the wake of enormous shame. It is a story about the price of love.'[1]
- The New York Times was generally positive: 'Jordan’s feverishly conceived dystopia holds its own alongside the dark inventions of Margaret Atwood and Ray Bradbury, but the novel’s cunning futuristic trappings can’t quite disguise its weather-beaten theme: a repressed young woman’s liberation from co-dependency and bankrupt self-esteem. The plot’s melodramatic turns are fed, and ultimately redeemed, by an unalloyed rage at the perceived trajectory of social freedoms in 21st-century America. If “When She Woke” sometimes seems like a stunt, it’s a stunt with very sharp teeth.'[2]
- Carolyn See in The Washington Post is more negative: 'The advertising for this novel recommends it to reading groups because women will want to discuss its big issues. I think they might end up screaming at each other instead. Ninety percent of the men here are cowards or brutes or would-be rapists; at least 50 percent of the Christians are full-on certifiable. “When She Woke” seems to me to be primarily agitprop: ham-handed, disrespectful and quite dumb in places where it should be smart.'[3]
See also
External links
References
- ^ Article by: KATHRYN SAVAGE , Special to the Star tribune Retrieved 2013-09-15.
- ^ Fiction Chronicle - NYTimes.com Retrieved 2013-09-15.
- ^ Book review: When She Woke, by Hillary Jordan - Washington Post Retrieved 2013-09-15.