Vox, by Christina Dalcher
In Christina Dalcher’s debut novel, it has been less than
two years since ultra-conservative President Dyer has taken up occupancy in the
White House, and Jean McLellan marvels at the swiftness of the change in her circumstances: prior to President Dyer’s election she was a
respected Doctor of Neurolinguistics, juggling career, marriage and children
with varying degrees of success, the same as most women; now it has been decreed by Dyer’s new
religious advisor that she stay at home 24/7, attending to the needs of her
family ‘as all women should’. Her
computer and passport are gone, locked in her husband’s study; he also has the key to the mailbox – not that
she receives any mail; all letters are
addressed to him. TV coverage is sparse; cooking programs rule, as do ‘family
friendly’ sitcoms, though these are sometimes interrupted by ‘public shamings’
of individuals who have broken the new laws against adultery and
fornication: women are the only sinners
here and are sent off, heads shaved, to parts unknown for a life of
slavery. Those unfortunate enough to be
exposed as homosexual share the same fate.
But the worst thing, the most shameful thing, is the
bracelet. The bracelet is a thin band
that all women must wear around their left wrist. It counts the words that are said: if a woman utters more than 100 words a day
she receives an electric shock so severe that it burns. If she starts ranting against the injustice
of it all, the bracelet is capable of incinerating her hand. Even the president’s wife, a former model,
(sound familiar?) is not immune: Jean
watches her on TV, silently attending a function, remote and beautiful as
always, bracelet exactly matching her outfit.
Her eyes are dead.
Until … until the president’s elder brother and chief
adviser sustains a major brain injury in a ski accident. Prior to the new laws giving all women’s jobs
(except the menial ones) to men, Jean and her team were involved in an exciting
new experiment to repair aphasia in stroke and injury victims, restoring speech
and lucidity – which the president’s brother now lacks: suddenly Jean’s former scientific expertise
is vital. For the duration of ‘the cure’
her bracelet will be removed and she has freedom of movement.
But she also has a lover.
And she is pregnant. Two secrets
that could send her into slavery in a heartbeat, not to mention another one she
has discovered: a resistance movement
that could get them all killed.
This powerful story has echoes of ‘1984’ and ‘The
Handmaid’s Tale’; it is an intelligent,
chillingly real portrait of what could happen in a society where fear and
hatred have an unassailable hold on people’s hearts and minds. Great stuff.
FIVE STARS.
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