To coincide with International Women’s Day, the lovely
people at HQ Stories made this title available to ‘Read Now’ for 24 hours on
NetGalley. Having heard a bit about it, I jumped on the offer and am glad I
did.
The funny/frightening thing about how I felt reading this
book is that it seemed so familiar. The horrifying dystopian premise is so
believable and something that is being represented, or has been, in a number of
ways in fiction over the last couple of decades – and more so now with the TV
adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale sending that book to the top of the charts
and Naomi Alderman’s The Power gaining widespread acclaim and awards
recognition.
The subject of the silencing of women is nothing new – but
it has thundered full-force into the news and everyday conversation since the
sexual assault revelations of the last year – with more women than ever
standing together and coming forward – and people listening for the first time
(many had come forward before and not been listened to).
Vox by Christina
Dalcher is due to be published in Autumn this year, and takes this silencing to
very literal extremes. It’s set in an America where women are given an
allowance of only 100 words a day, controlled by a counter on their wrist which
shocks them if they exceed the limit. They are relegated to the home, can no
longer hold jobs and are actively rewarded for speaking as few words as
possible in schools.
The story is about one woman, Dr Jean McClellan and her
quest to reclaim her voice – for herself, her daughter and for every woman
silenced. What makes this book feel so familiar right now is how quickly the
instigators rose to power and made swift changes, and began to mould the minds
of children in school – so that Jean’s own son is virtually a mouthpiece for
the government. Both heartbreakingly, and understandably, in this situation,
Jean begins to hate her own son – resent her own husband and feel a more urgent
love for her young daughter, Sonia.
The governing body are the ‘Pure Movement’, a religious
group who win power. Jean recalls how her friend Jackie chastised her for not
voting and not participating as they rose to power, like many, barely noticing
before it was too late. It’s a reminder how we must stay engaged in politics and
stay aware of changes being made, no matter how small they seem. To disengage
in the current climate could be costly.
Both Jean and the author are linguists (Jean used to be a
neuroscientist) so, as a reader, there’s a lot to (gladly) learn from the
perspectives and science on language and the power of communication. Aside from
Jean, I would actually have been curious to follow Steven’s journey and how he
changes throughout the novel – a lot of it is ‘off-screen’ in a sense – but psychologically
could be a really interesting narrative too. Jean is torn between her duties to her family
and her unique position as an expert and insider (she is brought on board by
the government to apparently develop a cure for the President’s brother, who
has suffered a stroke) who has an opportunity to fight back but risk everything
– and some big losses are inevitable either way.
Vox is angry and
fast-paced, and there were times when I wished it was longer, but I enjoyed
reading it and there’s no doubt it is engaging and relevant. It’s a scorching
debut from Christina Dalcher, hopefully the first of many.
Vox is available to pre-order now and publishes on 23rd August 2018
*Thank you to NetGalley and HQ Stories for the chance to read and review this title
