Women's Work

by Kari Aguila

Overview

What would change if women ruled the world? "So, when most of the men were dead, women saw their chance to take over?" Kate searches her son's eyes as he asks this. "Not take over," she says. "Fix things." It wasn't hard to justify what the women had done since the end of the Last War. They rebuilt their bombed-out neighborhoods as best they could and worked to established peace and gender equality. But small groups of men roam the country, viciously indicating that the pendulum may have swung too far. When a bedraggled man shows up on Kate's doorstep one night, will she risk everything to save him? Does he deserve her help? Women's Work is a dystopian look at gender stereotypes, where women struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic world through sustenance farming, clever engineering, and a deeply rooted sisterhood. In this suspenseful thriller, Kate is faced with a morally complex choice between what her heart believes and what society deems right. It is a compelling story that challenges all of us to question traditional gender roles, relationships, and the pursuit of power! This trailblazing science fiction novel is being heralded by critics as a timely and necessary look at the oversimplification of the issue of gender equality. It asks the question, "What would change if women ruled the world?" The answer in not as simple as you might think. Though this new society claims men and women are finally equals, when one group gains power over the other, it quickly becomes a slippery slope to the oppression of the "other" group. Follow Kate, her family and the powerful women of her neighborhood as they try to navigate a world where women have begun to claim both authority over and superiority over men. To what will the women in this suspenseful tale resort in order to keep the fragile peace they have established? Can Kate continue to justify the new rules to her young son and daughters? The survival of her family, her neighborhood and her new society depend upon the answer.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780991165018
Publisher:	Kari Hetcher-Aguila
Publication date:	11/18/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	298
File size:	783 KB

About the Author

Kari Aguila was the recipient of an IndieReader Discovery Award for her first novel, Women's Work. Her stories are gripping and thought-provoking looks at gender stereotypes and relationships set in a dystopic future. She is also an avid gardener, geologist, outdoor enthusiast and mother of three. Aguila lives in Seattle with her family. RUN Ragged is her second novel.

Editorial Reviews

★ 2017-06-22
Finally in charge of the planet, women resolve to do a better job than men; but for all their good intentions, Utopia eludes them in this study of human nature and gender roles. In this debut novel, the war to end all wars has been accomplished in the not-too-distant future for the simple reason that the world has run out of men and materiel to fight anymore. The countryside has been reduced to rubble and most men are dead or presumed so. Not coincidentally, in a wave of vicious misogyny, women had been severely oppressed. Now, it is 10 years after, and the roles are reversed. Through sheer grit, women continue to dig out of the ruins and vow to make a brave, new matriarchal world. But they must always be on guard against roving bands of "raiders," men bent on pillage, rape, and worse. (A few men are accepted, but they are literally house husbands.) Kate Decker is making a go of it on her farm with her twins, Margaret and Laura, and son, Jonah. One night, a man emerges from the forest begging help for his sick boy, Evan. Thus begins the tentative, tortured relationship between Kate and Michael MacGregor, who has in effect kidnapped his own son so that he will not lose him. If the women in town find out, they will take young Evan and probably kill Michael. With so much hatred, can a true balance ever be achieved? Aguila is a remarkably talented novelist. Her vivid passages paint a fractured society; one female character says of men: "We buried all of them. Even the ones who survived." The author is not afraid to let a scene grow at its own pace, and virtually everything rings true here. And this engrossing tale is wonderfully balanced with fully developed characters: readers understand what fear and loathing have done to most of these women (even to Kate near the end). But they also know that Michael is a good man and should not be tarred with the same brush aimed at most of his sex. Men and women will react differently to the story, but both should find much to ponder (attention, book clubs). In the end, readers are forced to examine the tragedies that evil can wreak. A novel of ideas can easily become righteous and preachy; this thoughtful matriarchal tale impressively rises above that.

Kirkus Reviews