Red Clocks is a delightful and harrowing read. In a not-so-distant future, if the incorrigible, trail-of-slime-leaving Mike Pence ever ascends to the presidency, we read about the goings on of a few women dealing with political machinations of those (read: men) who legislate reproductive-capable bodies. The believability and possibility of the plot is the scariest part. The likelihood of a 28th Amendment to scrap Roe v. Wade and anthropomorphize duplicating cells within wombs is as close to imminent as it is parodic.

One of the narrative threads I really enjoyed was through Ro, who is writing a biography of Eivør Mínervudóttir, a little-known 19th-century Icelandic female polar explorer. Zumas wrote about Mínervudóttir so well that I didn’t realize she was fictional until I’d finished the book. Her story is one of the many macro ideas scaled down into micro glimpses the book provides.

The comparisons to Handmaid’s Tale are expected, but the character arcs in Red Clocks reflect those of many women I know, so it’s likely I’d recommend reading Red Clocks before Atwood’s masterpiece.

This wasn't the book for me, but thank you for the opportunity to consider it!

2.5 Stars

I really liked the premise of this book when I read description. However, the reading of the book was so tedious and challenging that I had to give up on it at about 35% into it. There was not a story here, per se, IMO. It was filled with phrases just thrown in. No conversation or plots. The characters (the mender, the daughter, the wife, etc.) are called by their roles. Then every once in a while, their names are used. And you had better be paying attention to catch this.

Unfortunately, the book was not garnering all my attention, hardly any of it. Not only would I need a spreadsheet to keep up, but I would need a white board, as well. One that I could tie strings from person to person detailing relationships, etc.

For me, this was all too challenging with little entertainment provided. I am not a fan of this type of writing at all.

Thanks to Little, Brown and Company and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Handmaid's Tale has made a comeback, Naomi Alderman's The Power has become a bestseller, and I predict the same for Leni Zumas's book, if it gets the necessary publicity. If it doesn't, I hope people recommend it to other readers so that it becomes the phenomenon it deserves to be.

Zumas creates a dystopian future in which fetuses have been recognized as people. In a Jodi Picoult-esque way she explores what this means by presenting five women whose lives are affected in one way or another by the Personhood Amendment.

For all of Stephen King's monsters that he has created over the years, there is nothing as frightening as an oppressive, futuristic society that has a decent likelihood of coming true. Margaret Atwood understood this when writing her brilliant The Handmaid's Tale. Leni Zumas is just one more author to capitalize on this fact in her novel, Red Clocks. Whereas Ms. Atwood was writing a novel that could potentially come true, Ms. Zumas' novel is one that all but grabs its plot from current headlines as the conservative right continues to demean women and seek to destroy our right to take ownership of what happens to our body and when. The fact that there is yet another strong push to upend the Roe v. Wade decision and its pertinence to Ms. Zumas' story makes this the most terrifying story of all.

What may be even worse is the fact that stories like Ms. Zumas' only serve to remind readers that general sentiment towards women by a small but very powerful minority have not changed over the centuries. Women with strong personalities, like Eivør, or who exhibit expertise in an area, like Gin, have always been called witches and continue to be vilified for not expressing "more feminine" traits. Girls like Mattie continue to face societal scorn for getting pregnant out of wedlock, as if women are the sole instigators of pregnancy. Mothers like Susan will always face pressure from others for not appreciating their marriage and motherhood and experience doubts for wanting something more out of life. Yes, things are changing but at a glacial pace, which makes Red Clocks such a timely novel.

Moreover, unlike in Ms. Benjamin's latest novel, Ms. Zumas gets us to care about her characters. They are achingly real in their desires, their frustrations, and their mistakes. None of the women want to break the law; they do not set out to be criminals. What they do have is a desire to do with their body and their lives what THEY want and not what others dictate. Seeing all of the women struggle is heartbreaking, all the more so because you cannot help but feel that their stories are eerily prescient as well.

The second half was better than the first half - I didn't think the "biographer" and "mender" (etc) titles were particularly effective, to the point where it was difficult to get to know the characters early on. It was a good cautionary tale.

The premise seemed promising and I was initially excited to read this. After several false starts I finally read enough to know that I do not want to read another feminist dystopia about the lack of reproductive rights. I read the Handmaids Tale and would like for authors to stop trying to rewrite it.

With the renewed interest in The Handmaid's Tale because of the times in which we live, I expect we'll see an increasing number of novels that consider similar themes. Red Clocks will certainly get lumped in with any such group (Erdrich released a similar novel last year). One thing these books will have in common is that they'll be described as dystopian, and Red Clocks does fit that description. However, one significant difference from Atwood's classic and Erdrich's recent offering, is that Red Clocks often feels too real to adequately be labeled dystopian. Take for instance a law called the "every child deserves two" act that will end adoptions for anyone but two parent families. That sounds to me like something that would garner plenty of votes in D.C. today. At times the novel does move into classically dystopian territory, i.e. Canada supporting a total ban on abortion in the U.S. by arresting and extraditing abortion seekers who cross the border and attempt to have it done safely (and going to Nazi like lengths to do so). But generally, Red Clocks feels like much of it could actually happen not too far from now if not tomorrow.

An exploration of women, individual freedoms, misogyny and the patriarchy, Red Clocks is no worse than an interesting thought exercise and at best it is an empathy inducing, conversation starting, possibly prescient novel that while at times for me was an uncomfortable read (I may never look at holistic healers the same again), made for an overall positive experience. Positive specifically because I spent time with characters who thought about things that I've rarely if ever pondered.

This is a very thought provoking story. The author's style of telling the story made it hard to put down.

This could be a good book club book, but I am cautious about recommending to people looking for a Handmaid's Tale read-a-like or those looking for dystopian fiction in general. This is way more experimental than a typical dystopian fiction book.

Initially I found this a difficult book to get into because of the writer's style, but I quickly became engrossed in the story of five woman dealing with feminist issues in this "futuristic" society where abortion is illegal and the Every Child Needs Two act will prevent singles from adopting babies. I loved how the characters' lives were interconnected and how the ending didn't tie everything up with a neat little bow--because life rarely ever does that either! Although the language was often coarse, I appreciated the raw and gritty tone of the author as things that make us uncomfortable often make us think deeply about our belief systems and prejudices!

I was interested in this one because of it's feminist themes and timeliness, but I honestly couldn't get past the first chapter. I found the writing difficult style to get into. Maybe if I just wasn't in the right frame of mind at the time to start reading it. Might try to pick up again another time.

I tried more than once and just could not get into this book. The writing seemed a bit confuising and the storyline was very hard to follow.

Described as dystopian, yet feeling very contemporary, a story of five women in America where suddenly abortion, in vitro fertilization, and adoption by single women are outlawed. The women’s stories are woven together giving a frightening look into a society where women lose control over their own bodies. The real grit here is in the women’s refusal to submit.

Zumas writes with gritty language and sometimes shocking word play. She is clearly not afraid of backlash, using coarse and often shocking language, to make her point. I love how brave she is.

Solid read but will be controversial due to subject matter and to those that prefer a more traditional writing style.

Thank you @littlebrown @netgalley and @lenizumas for the ARC.

Zumas imagines a world very similar to our world, except for a new amendment, called the Personhood Amendment, has been passed. It grants embryos constitutional protection and makes abortion and in-vitro fertilization illegal. We see how this change effects the lives of 4 women in different stages of life, with different struggles. Paralleling these women’s stories is the story of a 19th century female arctic explorer and researcher who made remarkable discoveries for which she never received credit because, being a woman, she was never given a voice. This book is about women’s voices being silenced, but it is also about the ways women express their voices despite being silenced. I think of this as similar to Naomi Alderman’s The Power, but where The Power is more driven by ideas and perspective, Red Clocks is more character driven, focusing on critical moments in the characters’ lives. This was an engaging book which I would recommend.

Stopped at 8%.
Didn’t enjoy the first few chapters or feel caught up in the slow start. I didn’t really take to the writing style either. Not for me.

The idea was intriguing but I couldn’t make myself continue. Sorry!

Ever since I read The Handmaid's Tale years ago I've been drawn to dystopian feminist novels. The recent political climate and the Hulu series of The Handmaid's Tale has lead to more novels in the genre. When I first saw Red Clocks was releasing I reached out to the publisher to get an advanced reading copy. Unfortunately, I wasn't impressed--I was depressed. The storyline wasn't dystopian, it was too realistic. I appreciated the attempt but this was a story of what's already happening.

Zumas' descriptive writing and characterizations are great. I anticipate this will be a popular title in 2018 given current debates around reproductive rights. I found Eivor's sections to be a bit jarring at first, but by the end of the book, I thought her story was an appropriate fit.

What is a woman for in a near future without reproductive freedom? What is her purpose? If you read Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" you'll imagine women are for child-bearing and sexual satisfaction and not much else. If you read Elgin's "Native Tongue" you'll add to that specific intellectual gifts and not much else.

Here, though, we are given a much more likely and much less extreme sort of dystopian (very near) future scenario: Abortion has been outlawed, single women are not allowed to use in vitro fertilization or adopt children. Every child needs two parents. These are not hideously shocking developments, just steps down a path that many people have wanted, probably. So this is speculative fiction of the most believable sort.

In this alternate scenario, the author visits five women seeking their purpose in their intersecting lives. A single school teacher yearning for a child. An unhappily married stay at home mother who desires time alone. An odd and mystical homeopathic woman trying to help others and wrestling with her own past. A female arctic explorer who desired exploration and research. A bright adopted pregnant teenager with few options. Each brings her own perspective, experience, and worries to the search for purpose in this slightly off-kilter world.

The alternate view points are woven together nicely. The secondary characters bring more nuance and depth to each woman's choices or lack there of. The story is well written and thought provoking. Given recent political events, this book is very timely for its early 2018 publication.

Who will not like this book? Those who are not interested in women have choices, in reproductive freedom, or even women's freedom to choose the course of their lives.