The Forbidden Territory of a Terrifying Woman

                                         *free review copy* 

Title: The Forbidden Territory of a Terrifying Woman

Author: Molly Lynch

Publisher: Catapult 

Release Date: 6.13.23

Publisher’s Summary 

Fates and Furies meets Melancholia in this ominous and absorbing debut novel about marriage and motherhood in a time of ecological collapse, as mothers around the world begin to mysteriously vanish from their homes

Ada—a woman from Montreal living reluctantly in Michigan—vanishes from her bed one night while her husband Danny is asleep beside her, her young son, Gilles, in the next room. Desperate to locate Ada before Gilles understands what has happened, Danny begins a search. But the feds are already involved: across the country and around the world, mothers are vanishing from their homes.

Where did Ada go? What has she gone through? And how does the mystery relate to the forest that she seemed magnetically drawn to?
Confronting the role of motherhood and the meaning of home in the wreckage of capitalism and climate change, The Forbidden Territory of a Terrifying Woman is that rare, dazzling debut that is both thrilling and profound. It is a mystery, a play on myths of metamorphosis, and above all, a story of love—between husband and wife, mother and child—deeply troubled by the future we face.

My Review

This was a *weird* one. I held off on reading any other reviews until I finished because I didn't want any big *aha* moments or "twists" to be revealed to me and I'm not going to reveal too much in my review. This is not a traditional story so if you are someone who likes all the answers delivered in a nice, tied-up ending, this isn't the book for you. I've used this term a lot lately but this book has a "fever dream" quality. Part dystopia, part metaphor, I would label this one as an "ecofeminist fever dream." Author Molly Lynch very skillfully wove a story about motherhood and climate change that was both relatable and unsettling. I initially thought I'd give this novel 4 stars because I wanted a little something *more* at the end, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. After rolling it around in my mind for a few days, I realized Lynch's intended effect and bumped it up to 5 stars.