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Recommendation RequestBooks Set in a Newly Established Matriarchal World?
Hi! Does anyone have any speculative book suggestions set in a world where only women have survived after a catastrophic event wiping out the global male population? Or just something along the lines of the world becoming a matriarchy. It doesn't have to be an apocalyptic event.
I've read Naomi Alderman's The Power, but the author really just wrote the now dominating women as men. What I want is a story that explores how women would navigate, adapt and behave in this new male-absent/male-minority world in a way that's realistic for women.
If you know of any such books, I'd greatly appreciate it!
The Gate to Women's Country by Sherri Tepper is a classic.
Sultana's Dream by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain
Ammonite by Nicola Griffith
The Gate To Women's Country and Ammonite sound fantastic! I just downloaded them
I would add The Shore of Women by Pamela Sargent for the trifecta of this theme.
Sargent also edited two anthologies of science fiction written by women from the forties to the nineties that are worth checking out too.
I read a short review of this on Goodreads and the woman said
I really enjoyed this book's exploration of daring feminist themes like "Wouldn't it be awful if the world was controlled by domineering man-hating lesbian separatists who forced all the men to live in primitive squalor? I bet they'd ostracize any woman who even wondered if men should be treated like more than sperm factories." and "Know what's way more natural and fulfilling than same-sex relationships? Heterosexual monogamy! Your lesbian commune will think it's gross, but follow your heart!"
Truly a ground-breaking and radical commentary on our patriarchal society.
And another woman commented on that:
"And let's not forget that the majority of the book is a woman realizing how "weak" she is and how she needs to be taught by men so she can survive. Oy"
Now I'm not going to not read a book based on a single short review, but I'm curious what you think of that.
Oooh. It’s been thirty years since I read it but gleaning from memory, the reviewer might have a point. I’ve just always thought of the Tepper and the Sargent together in my mind because I read them around the same time.
Let me pull the book and give it a quick scan before I say either way. Both books have most men living outside the women’s community which is probably why I conflate the two.
Not exactly what you're looking for, but Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman describes a female utopia (until three men arrive). It's a kind of alternative world, rather than a futuristic one. It was written in 1915.
There's "The Men" by Sandra Newman, but I haven't read it yet. The one-star reviews on GR are hilarious though (screaming transphobia, of course).
(I hated "The Power" with all my heart, too)
I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one who hated the Power. What a cliched, derivative disappointment.
Oh, damn. I'd. better not read that. Keep me as far away from transphobia as possible. Please tell me where the novel is sold so I can be sure to avoid those places.
I saw it on Kobo but I'm afraid all the major booksellers will have it! Beware! Be vigilant!
Oh no, it could be anywhere! I'll make sure to keep my eyes peeled so I can walk away from it when I find it.
Couple I can think of.
Ammonite by Nicola Griffith.
Any of Jane Fletcher's Celaeno series.
Daughters of the Coral Dawn by Katherine V. Forest is a classic. She wrote sequels too. I liked it in the 80s, but when I re-read it a few years ago it was disappointing.
But worth reading as wish fulfillment of its time.
From 1978: The Wanderground: Stories of the Hill Women by Sally Miller Gearheart. She was quite a figure in lesbian feminism and there was a film in progress about her, but I don't know if anything ever came of it. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/sally-miller-gearhart-activist-17537049.php
It's not a full book, but my favorite story in this genre is Sultana's Dream by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain
Woman On The Edge of Time, Marge Piercy. This explores the idea of a woman-led futuristic society. I read it at uni during our utopian novels week. Zero gender woo, it was written during the 70s.