The Power – Naomi Alderman

Electrifying’ Margaret Atwood

‘A big, page-turning, thought-provoking thriller’ Guardian

‘The Hunger Games crossed with The Handmaid’s Tale’ Cosmopolitan

‘Superb. Insightful, thrilling, funny. Well-crafted, compelling, serious-minded’ Daily Telegraph

‘Fascinating, ingenious, rattles with a furious pace. Deserves to be read by every woman (and, for that matter, every man)’ The Times

‘Irresistible. Holds a mirror up to the here and now’ Mail on Sunday

‘Chilling, thrilling, a blast’ Financial Times

‘A shocking, thrill-a-minute story’ Observer

About the book: In The Power the world is a recognisable place: there’s a rich Nigerian kid who lounges around the family pool; a foster girl whose religious parents hide their true nature; a local American politician; a tough London girl from a tricky family. But something vital has changed, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power – they can cause agonising pain and even death. And, with this small twist of nature, the world changes utterly.

This extraordinary novel by Naomi Alderman, a Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year and Granta Best of British writer, is not only a gripping story of how the world would change if power was in the hands of women but also exposes, with breath-taking daring, our contemporary world.

About the author: Naomi Alderman grew up in London and attended Oxford University and UEA. In 2006 she won the Orange Award for New Writers. In 2007, she was named Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, and one of Waterstones’ 25 Writers for the Future.

Her first novel, Disobedience, was published in ten languages. Penguin published her second novel, The Lessons, in 2010 and her third novel, The Liars’ Gospel, in August 2012. Her new novel, The Power, was published in October 2016. All of her novels have been chosen for BBC Radio 4’s Book at Bedtime slot.

Her prize-winning short fiction has appeared in Prospect, on BBC Radio 4 and in a number of anthologies. In 2009 she was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award.

From 2004 to 2007 Naomi was lead writer on the alternate reality game Perplex City. She’s written online games for Penguin, the BBC, and other clients. In 2011 she wrote the Doctor Who tie-in novel Borrowed Time. In 2012, she co-created the top-selling smartphone fitness game and audio adventure Zombies, Run!, which is a market leader and has been downloaded millions of times.

Naomi broadcasts regularly, has guest-presented Front Row on BBC Radio 4 and writes frequently for the Guardian. She is one of the presenters of Science Stories, a programme about the history of science on BBC Radio 4, as well as presenting many one-off documentaries.

Naomi is Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, has been mentored by Margaret Atwood as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, and in April 2013 she was named one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists in their once-a-decade list.

My Review: The Power has been sitting on my kindle since December 2017 and whilst I really had intended to read it soon, it kept dropping to the bottom of my TBR pile.  Recently I started listening to Audible again so I purchased the audible add-on for a reduced £4.99, grabbed the dog and off we went for our daily hour walks.  Except that isn’t quite what happened…. I fell in love with the narrator, the characters, the story line and our hourly walks because 2 hourly walks, I started playing the book in my car on every car journey and couldn’t actually stop listening until the final word.

I am in no doubt that I probably wouldn’t have felt so strongly about the book had I read it instead of listening to it – the narrator was absolutely BRILLIANT, bringing all the characters to life, I can still hear her accents and her voice in my head now.

Mother Eve, Tunde, Roxy, Margot were stunning characters.  The Power is “shocking”, powerful, thought-provoking, gripping and utterly absorbing.  I can’t say more than that really – except listen to it and get swept away in a strange and frightening new world where Women hold the “Power”.

 

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