The Power
The Power by Naomi Alderman
Imagine a world where women have power, well, not just power but The Power. The Power to deliver a jolt of electrical energy whenever they damn well please. To have a physical power that is greater – and more subversive - than a man’s. Terrific. Guy touches you up on the subway, zap. Colleague rolls his eyes when you speak at a meeting, zap. I can think of a whole bunch of males in the news I could zap and zap and zap without a second’s compunction. And not a few front-page females I could get into a zapping war with.
And there you have it. The Power is no party palm buzzer. It disrupts. It destroys. It disintegrates. Things fall apart. And eventually are put back together again, but in a way that is both recognizable and shocking. (Pun intended.)
If all this is a bit cryptic, it’s because it’s not easy to write about this novel without giving anything away. It’s science fiction-y and apocalyptic-ish, both so not my reads of choice. But I was riveted, and disturbed. My brain was rearranged any number of times. And oh, my goodness, did I laugh at the end.