Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of this release in exchange for an honest review. I was not given any additional compensation.
The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh releases 1/8/2019 from Hamish Hamilton (#partner). Described as The Handmaid's Tale meets The Virgin Suicides, this debut novel was long listed for the Man Booker Prize for 2018 and I predict it will be one of the first big hits of 2019.
Netgalley Description:
"King has tenderly staked out a territory for his wife and three daughters, Grace, Lia, and Sky. He has lain the barbed wire; he has anchored the buoys in the water; he has marked out a clear message: Do not enter. Or viewed from another angle: Not safe to leave. Here women are protected from the chaos and violence of men on the mainland. The cult-like rituals and therapies they endure fortify them from the spreading toxicity of a degrading world. But when their father, the only man they've ever seen, disappears, they retreat further inward until the day two men and a boy wash ashore. Over the span of one blistering hot week, a psychological cat-and-mouse game plays out. Sexual tensions and sibling rivalries flare as the sisters confront the amorphous threat the strangers represent."
My Review:
This dystopian fiction story of 3 sisters raised to fear men and kept separate from the rest of the world was a bit of a slow starter for me. However, once I got my footing on the structure and style of the story, I tore through it. Author Sophie Mackintosh's writing is clean but raw, it will slice your heart and drop your jaw. This is a novel that is difficult to explain without giving away any spoilers, but I definitely agree with the description of The Handmaid's Tale meets The Virgin Suicides. I know that every feminist dystopia is labeled "the next Handmaid's Tale" but I rarely agree (Vox may have been the closest). The Water Cure is primal and psychologically addictive. I recommend this if you love feminist fiction and are comfortable reading something a bit left of mainstream.
1 comment
Nice review. Left of mainstream? That would be me.
Post a Comment