Review: Vox by Christina Dalcher

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