This is a great book. Entirely gripping, a real page turner (or whatever the Kindle equivalent would be.) There are parallels with Atwood and I suspect the likes of Robert Harris and Interregnum by Jim Ring. Very well written, thoroughly researched, fantastic from start to finish.

Widowland by CJ Carey
Thanks to #Netgalley & Quercus Books for an ARC in return for a review.
"To control the past, they edited history. To control the future they edited literature".
Welcome to England in 1953, Germany has won the Battle of Britain and Great Britain is now a Protectorate of Nazi Germany. The coronation of King Edward VIII and Queen Wallis is about to take place. VIPs from Germany including Adolf Hitler are about to descend on London to participate in the celebrations.
Albert Rosenberg is Britain's Protector and he has very strong views about the role of women in society. The main character is Rose Ransom who works at the Ministry for Culture rewriting female literature according to Protector Rosenberg's rules i.e. eliminating any mention of independence or intelligence in the writers. Women are divided into categories and Rose is a Geili (named after Hitler's dead niece). Geilis are the epitome of Nazi womanhood and have access to the higher ranks of soldiers.
The coronation is planned as a spectacle to show the rest of the world how well GB is doing under Nazi rule. However, there is a potential problem because feminist slogans are being daubed on buildings and the authorities are anxious to stop the perpetrators. The residents of Widowland are the most likely suspects. The women who live there are regarded as having no value to society and appear to have nothing to loose. Rose is sent to investigate this tribe of unruly women and so the story unfolds.
Widowland is told in a concise but detailed manner. Rose appears at first to be a vacuous good time girl who is also the perfect citizen. She has a German lover and is very good at her job. It would be easy to dislike Rose but as the author reveals details of Rose's past I found myself becoming more sympathetic towards her.
C. J. Carey's ability to imbue her novel with menace is excellent. Certain scenes had me holding my breath and the tension increases as the novel progresses. The clarity of the writing also keeps the reader engrossed. The author also uses some well worn tropes like "her heart shaped face" and "his brilliantly polished boots" which I took to be ironical given the strict rules this society imposes on it's citizens.
Widowland is many things: dystopian, feminist and a chilling portrayal of "what if" fiction.
Be warned once you start reading Widowland be prepared to keep reading as it is a very difficult book to put down!
4.5 stars

I am not a fan of dystopia, but I want to try from time to time to read one, and I liked this one.

I like the idea of alternative history, and here we are thirteen years after WWII, and we discover a new Britain after an alliance with Germany. I found the new society well-imagined and, above all, well constructed. However, if you are like me, it can make you feel uneasy due to the way women are treated and considered.
As it's a reimagined society, you have a lot of information at the beginning of the book, and I find that the plot is set aside, but I didn't mind as you can concentrate more on the background and the main character.

The only problem I had while reading was that the main plot isn't as prominent as I thought it would be. Maybe it's because I imagine that the story would unravel another way. Also, I love the writing; I really feel like I was there with the main character and following her in this society.

The ending is an open one but feels like a cliffhanger which doesn't work with me. I want to have a second book to know what can happen after it.

Overall, I like this book; I will read another from this author, and those kinds of books help me make peace with dystopia.

A brilliantly written exploration of a great premise - what life could have been like had Britain acquiesced to Germany in WW2. The storyline was fluid but I wanted more from the ending. The characters were great - complex but clear, demonstrating the full range of personalities and coping mechanisms you might find in the general population at a time such as this.

This was a remarkable dystopian novel that had me hooked since the very beginning. I was captivated by the alternative history of the novel, which shows what could have happened after WWII if Germany had won and ruled over other countries in Europe, specially over England, Rose’s home.

Due to Roses' ancestry, family, age and fertility, she is enlisted as part of the elite caste, a Geli. Her whole life is dictated by the caste division and rules; her job, food habits, clothing and even entertainment that she could enjoy. The whole Society lives by the rules from the mainland; a Nazy Germany, and is divided in these castes, specially the women, whereas Gelis are considered the top class and Friedas - widows - the lowest.

Rose works as a book analyst, mainly because of her access to books and her lover who works in the high power government sector. Her job is to alter the meaning of subversive books - particularly the classical books - in order to maintain the population illiterate and the government in control. Rose's has a great love for literature and begins to question the system, as well as to notice a revolutionary feeling start to erupt - namely at the widowland. This political and yet emotional story is full of depth and kept a crescendo pace until the end. This is a strong feminist story, where we learn the power of literature to fight against tyranny and oppression, specially in the hands of strong women.

Well, this was a little different to my usual reads but, I hasten to add, definitely in a good way. I do like to mix it up a bit every so often and thought that this book would fit that bill nicely; and I wasn't wrong. It's set in the UK in 1953 but not the 1953 we all know. Prior to that year, an alliance was formed between GB and Germany which has led to all sorts of knock on effects. We catch up with the action in the time leading up to the Coronation of Edward VIII - yes, he of Wallis Simpson, abdicated fame. Well, he's back and since the "removal" of George VI from the throne, is eager to take his place in history. Whilst all that is going on, we meet our main character Rose who has a rather interesting job - rewriting novels. Yes, you read that right, she takes the book and rewrites it according to specifications - basically, in a nutshell, women characters have to be subservient. You can imagine...!
Anyway, as with any regime, there are those who (rightly) oppose it. Small factions who make their presence know despite the penalty for doing so. Obviously with the Leader visiting from Germany for the Coronation, those in power would really rather these rebels would wind their necks in, and pipe down. Specifically troublesome is an area known as Widowland and, for reasons you will discover in the book, Rose is sent there to try and infiltrate and suppress... But will she manage to do this or will she be swayed by their cause...?
This was an interesting book for me. Probably mostly as it is a genre I am not overly familiar with but, on the back of this book, one I am eager to continue my relationship with. It's especially interesting to see Edward back in the frame for King what with the shenanigans with Harry at the moment - definitely some parallels there - American divorcee and all! But I digress. We have a caste system in this book, categorising women for all sorts of things, which places them in certain positions job and society wise. I had to write down what was what but, tbh, it doesn't really matter the ins and outs, only that they exist.
The storyline wasn't quite a cohesive as I would have liked it to be. It meandered around quite a bit and there were some things that I would have liked more on and some that, in my opinion, were a bit superfluous to the main storyline. That said, I did find it easy to follow once I had got the concept of what was happening straight in my head.
Characterisation was excellent which is a good thing as it is quite a character driven story. Rose did take some warming to but as the scales started to come off her eyes and she started to see things more clearly, I really started rooting for her.
I was trying to check the author out but I have learned that CJ Carey is a pen name. Probably for someone I have never heard of as they are apparently an Historical Novelist and that's not really my bag. That said, I wouldn't be adverse to reading more by this author, whoever they are! My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Thank you to Negalley, the publisher and the author for the free advanced e-copy of this book.



Widowland is a gripping story that takes place in an alternative history where rather than Churchill taking over as Prime Minister and taking us into World War Two, an alliance is formed between Great Britain and Nazi Germany, with Britain very much the subjugated partner. The novel focuses on the way this affects women and explores the Nazi ideals of womanhood. All women in the country are given a rank within society: pretty women with the required blonde hair and blue eyes are the most powerful whilst older, childless women are the lowest of the low and given very little in the way of accommodation, clothing and food.



Our protagonist is Rose. One of the elite women, who works for the government in the culture department, and is in an adulterous relationship with one of the high-ranking German men that control everything in the country. We follow her as she is sent on a mission to speak to the older, lowest ranking women.



There were many things to enjoy about this novel, and I did enjoy it enormously. It really is the kind of book you can race through in a couple of days. The characters are interesting and, on the whole, well rounded. The setting is generally intriguing, giving as it does, an insight into what it would have been like had Germany won. I particularly liked the fact that women were given ranks – it reminded me of Brave New World and it is just an interesting concept. The fact that everyone knows who is which rank and what that means works really well. In a physical copy though, it would be useful to have an appendix where these are listed and explained as it is hard to keep track of what every one means.



The plot was very strong – the story barrelled along and was gripping and intriguing – I was totally hooked and carried away by it.



Other reviewers have commented on the novel’s clear links to other more famous works and for me, it gave me a strong feeling of 1984 and as I’ve said, Brave New World. The big comparison is, of course, Fatherland which I have yet to read! Due to its clear links to period it, in my opinion, didn’t really link with Atwood or Vox. It read like 1984 with a female protagonist to me and there was absolutely nothing wrong about that – and perhaps controversially – it had a better ending!



The ending is very good – probably completely inevitable given its subject matter but I would have still appreciated an epilogue, unnecessary as it clearly is!



One of the novel’s weaknesses, is perhaps its unoriginality, but to me that really wasn’t a problem as I enjoyed a different view of some classics. Another for me was the romance between two of the characters which could have been significantly better developed and believable. I like my romance intense – this one seemed ‘phoned in’… as though an editor had suggested it needed a bit more emotion so it was shoe-horned in. A real pity because who doesn’t love a bit of romance against the odds?



Other people have complained a bit about some of the clichés – heart shaped faces, etc, and whilst I agree with these comments, they didn’t detract from the whole story for me. The only thing that bugs me, looking back, is the fact of the rations and the lack of things in the 1950s – if it hadn’t been for the war would there have been food and clothing shortages?



Overall, I genuinely enjoyed this and despite its flaws, I give it four stars because it was well plotted, and I got a great deal of pleasure from reading it.

If this was a marvel movie, it would be an origin story. There is a lot of background and detail which I felt made the story a bit slow at some points. The action started to ramp up in the last 20% and the ending leaves you wanting a hell of a lot more!

Overall, this is an interesting read and I will absolutely be reading book 2 ( with that ending there better be a book 2!)

1953 and Britain has been part of the Anglo-Saxon Alliance for more than 13 years, since the end of the war.
London is due to celebrate the Royal Marriage of Edward V111 to Wallis Simpson and friends Rose and Helena elite class "Gelis" have the privileges positions in the centre of the ceremonies.
There are many twists and turns in the plot and keeping up was not always easy. Rose was clever at keeping her true self locked away, especially concerning her relationship with Martin Kruez of the SS.
This is a chilling what if scenario both of male and cultural dominance and under estimation of how far women will go and what they will do foe their principles.

The premise of this novel had me instantly intrigued. It asks us what might have happened if that Nazi's had won WW2. The writing was incredibly engaging and it was so difficult to put down because it all seemed so credible. I think that this novel would make a great book club pick as there is so much to discuss and I think it opens up some really interesting conversations

A dystopian, historical fiction novel that asks the question of what Britain would be like if the Nazis had won World War 2.

I enjoyed the premise of Widowland, it was a very intriguing read. There’s quite a few twists and by the end I was racing through to find out what happens. I liked the subtle references to events that happened during WW2 and immediately afterwards. It was nice how these were tied in.

I would have liked to have spent more time in Widowland and perhaps reading more of the experiences of women deemed to be of a lower class.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for a review.

Widowland is an alternate history book, exploring what might have happened if the UK had entered into an alliance with Nazi Germany instead of going to war in the 1940s. It's a readable and engaging dystopia, where Britain is now a client state of Germany, with British women sorted into castes and with the whole populace kept quiet with propaganda and dissidents being disappeared by the state.

I particularly liked the parts of the book set in Widowland itself, where older women without children are kept in a barbed-wire-encircled ghetto and are considered highly dangerous if they join a book club.

A recommended read.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

This is absolutely, hands down, top of the pile…..the BEST book I have read so far this year. I loved it so much, that I wish I could go out and buy you all a copy.

Some of you will love Dystopian novels, some won’t. I was in the won’t camp, but have officially been converted. Widowland mixes the past, present and future. Feminism and sexism. Freedom and restrictions. The beauty of language and the power of with-holding it. One of my favourite parts of this books, is the obvious celebration of the power of literature.

My only criticism of this novel is that the pace and the tone are too gentle at times. There were instances where I felt the story could have been and needed to be darker. The grit and suspense you expect from a dystopian novel was missing in places i.e. we’re told early on that there are dead bodies everywhere throughout London, yet we’re never shown this violence happening in real time.

“If we can control what people know of history, we control memory too.”

I did like that Carey only mentions aspects of WWII that most of us are aware of i.e. the persecution of the Jews. It meant that the book didn’t feel like a war story, or that Carey was trying to recreate that environment. It allowed Widowland to stand on it’s own. The story is set in the 1950’s, but when I was reading it I could have been in any time period, even modern day.

You will have your views on the society we live in, but just be glad it’s not the grey alternative history of Widowland. Give it a year and this will be in your local cinema.

Dystopian literature is my genre, so I was very excited to see this pop up on Netgallery. I liked the idea of it. The alternative history aspect of it was an intriguing take on various other novels that go with the 'what if the Nazi's won and invaded the UK'. The main protagonist, Rose, doesn't actually become a rebellious figure until the very last pages, and I didn't feel that she was a strong character. I was more interested in Oliver and the women in Widowland (where they send all the 'useless' women deemed by a caste system), but unfortunately there wasn't a lot of dwelling on that. Just Rose being the highest caste and not really questioning her society like I was led to believe. It did take on the ideas of other dystopian novels which I felt didn't make the novel as original as it could be. Rose rebels by writing, even though she doesn't actively do this to rebel, just because she felt like it. The brutality and oppression is shown well, I thought. It might be because I've read so much dystopian literature and studied it that I didn't find this the amazing book that others did. Considering that Vox and Atwood's works are high calibre dystopian literature, I don't think that this should be likened to them as it set the expectations a bit high. It was good, but not as great as Vox or Handmaid's.

A what if story, it examines what would have happened to Britain if the Nazis would have invaded. The women separated into casts, à la Handmaid's Tale, and our protagonist is tasked with rewriting literary women, until a new mission makes her question everything she's ever thought and believed. Interesting alternative story!

So I was very intrigued by this book but sadly it didn't do much of anything for me.
Widowland is an alternative history book posing the question of what would happen if Britain became a German colony and WWII didn't happen. Now again, intriguing premise.
The main character Rose is quite bland other than the fact that she is from the highest caste (oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Women are sorted into castes) there isn't ever really anything interesting about her that would draw you in. Also, her supposed intelligence was severely undercut in my eyes because of how idiotic it seemed to me that she never bothered to question why things were the way they were. I also found myself wanting some more perspective on the world from the eyes of a woman in a lower caste. The story while interesting enough that I didn't DNF still left me feeling like there were books that handled the whole premise better. The whole women's caste system and the calorie allocation gave me hibijibbies and I felt like it took away from the story more than it added to it. Overall, the treatment of women in the book did not sit right with me and took away from my possible enjoyment of it. The whole book lacked a lot of nuance in relation to the whole political landscape which did bother me quite a bit.

Ok.so this book.totally took me by surprise. I was immediately sucked into this authors way of writing and its amazing! All I can say..... Amazing guys!
This book is not like anything I've read before and that's what surprised me. I didn't think I would enjoy this like others had! But if sucked me in and didn't let go!
Thanks NetGalley, Quercus Books and author for this advanced erc copy!

I loved the concept of an alternative dystopian... a “what if...”
A story that changes the world and history we grew up with, who doesn’t love a feminine twist on these matters?

The setting is 1953 and the UK is planning for the corrinagion Edward VIII and Waliss Simpson.

Who doesn’t look going back in time to this era and ready a fun new concept? I mean it might not be NEW, new. But it’s certainly a fresh take on the matter.

I loved the writing, it flowed so nicely and I kept finding myself want to go back and re read a chapter once I finished it, just because i was enjoying it so much.

I enjoyed reading about the strong women in this novel, it something I felt really empowered by.
I’m still not sure if showing the POV of a women who is “on top” of the social system was the right focus but I enjoyed it none the less.
The world building was fantastic learning about it was brilliant and so well done.

The only reason this book is only getting a 3 star rating from me I believe the plot overall fell short. I wasn’t completely convinced that we got everything we needed from this story, the author had an amazing idea and a beautiful writing style but it fell a little flat for me, specially the ending.

If you enjoyed books like Vox and Fatherland this might be right up your alley.

3 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is due to be published on the 10th of June 2021.
I want to thank the Author C.J. Carey, NetGalley and Quercus Books for access to the ARC online in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoy alternative histories and this book is a great example of 'what if' with England entering an Alliance with Germany in the early days of WW2 to avoid invasion. England becomes the ideal place for the German regime to implement some of its ideas for the future of its empire. Females are categorised according to various Aryan and other criteria, with widowed women being the lowest of the low. Very medieval ideas abound with sartorial laws reinstated and also the areas in which one can live, what one can eat, and more. A very well conceived and well written story, and quite a fast paced read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the e-ARC for me to read and review this title.

Absolutely fantastic. Such an amazing alternative history which the author makes all too credible. I came away angry - the possibility of this being real seemed just a bit too close to the surface. Well written, strong characters, snappy dialogue and even the odd bit of humour. Loved it.