Kingdom of Women

Given the outpouring of stories about men who have taken advantage of their positions of power to sexually harass and abuse women, this novel is especially timely In it, bands of vigilante women target rapists and other perpetrators of violent misogyny perpetrators who have escaped punishment by the justice system Yet to the great credit of the book, its treatment of vengeance is far richer and nuanced than this vigilantism suggests That s thanks to the central character, Averil Parnell, a prac [...]

You don t look demented, he said Thank you That s reassuring Full disclosure I ve known the author for years Indeed, I probably wouldn t have read this otherwise, as it s not really in my usual genres but knowing how smart she is, and how skilled with words, I was pretty sure this would be a good read And indeed it was I was perhaps a little put off by having a serial killer rapist as one of the most prominent male characters, and his relationship with another central character, but not to the p [...]

In a near future world very much like our own, Averil Parnell would have been among the first class of women to be ordained as Catholic priests Instead, she is the world s only female Catholic priest, and the lone survivor of the massacre of her sister seminarians by a man who hates women Across the U.S women have grown so sick of male violence that they secede and create a country of their own, called Erda, in the now depopulated North Dakota Even as Averil struggles with unwelcome religious vi [...]

How do women receive justice in an unjust world Averil the first ordained female Catholic priest and Catherine an ex military woman who has turned vigilante take different routes throughout the decades long narrative They live in a time much like our own, where male predators often go unpunished The difference between their world and ours being that groups of women have begun seeking justice on their own terms.What most impacted me about this book is how real it is There are no easy answers No c [...]

I am humbled by this novel The truth is the truth, and the unknown and uncertain is the unknown and uncertain I was fortunate enough to attend the same MFA program as Rosalie, and getting to know her and her work put me on a better path of discovery I m thrilled that she agreed to work with me for my 2018 Minnesota Artist Initiative Grant, where my project is trying to find new models of storytelling grounded in human flourishing Reading this novel helps me along my path, and I am incredibly for [...]

I think the premise of women revolting against the abusive men and male dominated society and setting up their own nation is fascinating This story and its timely elements captured my attention.Key points observations The women who form a new society ultimately behave like men Some of them become totalitarian and narrow, stubborn and aggressive, and defensive and irrational While these behaviors or attitudes aren t necessarily male or female, I wonder if the book intends a certain fatalism here [...]