In an alternate 1894, a Great Flu has decimated the American population, leading to a legal code where fertility is the primary measure of a person’s worth. Ada, a young midwife’s apprentice, is forced to flee her town after failing to conceive a child during her first year of marriage, an offense that carries the threat of execution for witchcraft. She joins the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, a diverse group of outcasts led by the enigmatic Kid. This collective of gender-nonconforming individuals and displaced women plans a heist to fund a safe haven where biological motherhood is not the baseline for citizenship or survival.
This book serves readers interested in feminist revisions of Western tropes and the intersection of public health and reproductive autonomy. It attracts those who study how legislative bodies use biological benchmarks to control marginalized populations. Readers gain a perspective on how systems of exclusion form under the guise of religious and communal protection. The narrative provides a framework for understanding how individuals establish alternative kinship structures and political resistance when the state rejects their physical reality.
Balanced in tone; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Curious Generalist. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2021
- Language
- EN
