I've been reading...
and it wasn't all crime.
On my visit to my local indie bookshop last Friday (oh, and by the way it’s Independent Bookshop Week) I was introduced to the author Jane Thynne/C J Carey (not in person - her books).
I was having a cup of coffee with the owner, and he was enthusing about her writing and bringing out copies of her books. When he described Widowland I picked it up and said. “This one. I’m taking this one home.”
Widowland is a dystopian tale set in 1953 at a time when England was in an “alliance” with Germany.
It’s an alternative history, a bit like Fatherland (Robert Harris) but set in the UK. It’s basically a police state with people categorized by status. Women, as is usually the case, come off worse. The lowest of the low are the widowed, childless, women who are not serving a man. They are banished to the edges of society with the smallest rations, the worst jobs, slum housing.
A coronation is about to take place - King Edward VIII and Queen Wallis are about to crowned. They have been waiting since 1940 so that Hitler can be present. Then the words of Mary Wollstencraft, written in red paint, begin to appear on public buildings.
The widows are the prime suspects and Rose Ransom, in the highest category of womanhood, whose job is to rewrite the classics for schoolchildren — taking out the bits where were women find their own voice and challenge men — is sent undercover to find their leader.
I love this kind of dystopian fiction and I thoroughly enjoyed Jane Thynne’s writing. I have just read her pre WW11 book, Midnight in Vienna and I’m looking forward to her event at my local indie book shop later this year.