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2000s: What would you do if you only had 100 words a day allowance?
Vox
What you need to know before your trail
Jean McClellan spends her time in almost complete silence, limited to just one hundred words a day. Any more, and a thousand volts of electricity will course through her veins.
Now the new government is in power, everything has changed. But only if you’re a woman.
Almost overnight, bank accounts are frozen, passports are taken away and seventy million women lose their jobs. Even more terrifyingly, young girls are no longer taught to read or write.
For herself, her daughter, and for every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice. This is only the beginning…
[100 WORD LIMIT REACHED]
Travel Guide
The USA
Washington DC , USA
This is a novel firmly set in the USA but apart from the White House, there are no real locations as such. This is what makes it all the more scary however since it affects ALL women and men in the USA. The women are second class citizens and like in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, women are forced to serve men in every way imaginable. The control is all the more raw here since Aopple Watches have been replaced by bracelets which alert the Pure movement (ie men) when a woman has spoken more than her daily allowance of 100 words. The price for going over that allowance…well it’s not worth thinking about.
There’s an awful lot here to be afraid of which is relevant to the USA today and indeed in other countries. Very disturbing realisations – even sign language is not allowed (for hearing people, it’s never discussed what happens to deaf women) so talking or communicating with your hands, eyes etc is prohibited. There are cameras everywhere and boys and girls must be separated. The Pure Movement has taken over and the Purists tell everyone what to do, what to believe in and which religion to follow.
Gay people are forced to marry a member of the opposite sex ‘to make things right again’.And The Bible Belt of the USA takes on a whole new meaning.
What if there was an incompetent president in the White House. What would happen if a religious man took over and decided that society had become so rotten that it needed to go back to the good old days, back to basics…back to pure values (ie Victorian times with a high level of brutality) Reverse several decades, centuries of women’s lib, human rights, justice and law and…you have VOX.
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
Thank goodness this is fiction. The scary thing is though that many parts of it are not, and it might not be that far fetched when you think about it. Very apt and timely for today;s world sadly and not just in the USA but in every country around the world.Countries where women can’t vote, drive, or those which have few women in high level positions…
There is a lot to liken this novel to The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984 with the idea that there are controls on women and restrictions of freedom and freedom of speech. Women are fitted with fitbits/Apple style watches which give them an electric shock if they speak more than 100 words a day. Reading and using your hands to speak is not allowed. Not sure what happens to deaf women in this society but I can imagine. The punishment is awful and you get an insight into what it ‘s like when a mother discovers her son has joined the Pure movement – those who rule and enforce the laws. The idea is to reboot society back to a time where men ruled, when life in their eyes was simpler and less complicated. Men are the natural leaders and women belong in the kitchen.
I want to read more however as the book starts when this regime is well underway and I didn’t get the sense that women were rising up and resisting like I think I would have done. I would love to read about more history about how this came to be and how it was created. Still, like with the rise of dictators and regimes around the world who like to brainwash people, can we ever really be sure how anything mad like this starts?
I’m going to be thinking of this for a while. And I’m taking off my fitbit for a start.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Vox
Destination : USA Author/Guide: Christina Dalcher Departure Time:2000s
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