"Widowland asks you to reconsider your life and where you would fit into this nightmare."
A dystopic, feminist tale chillingly told.
It is 1953, Hitler won the war thirteen years ago and Edward and Wallis are within weeks of being crowned. England is a rundown outpost of Europe, with anything worth having being sent to the mainland. There is an overall feel of the shabby and the rundown.
In the early days after the war, the general populace do not take the ‘take-over’ lying down but the new regime is quick to establish that all transgressions will be dealt with promptly and firmly. If you are caught pulling down an Alliance flag, you will be hanged from the flagpole. Gilead reimagined in the UK.
A rigid individual classification code is in place. Created in Germany this caste system is imposed on the female population in all the subjugated lands of the Empire. At fourteen, all females are called for classification, with ‘Nordic type’ being the highest caste - ASA Female Class I (a). Naturally as time passes, the official titles are overtaken by the shorthand used in everyday life. All the names came from the Leader’s (Fuhrer's) female family members: Gelis are the top, the most perfect specimens. Klaras are fertile women, Lenis are professional women, Paulas are teachers, nurses and carers. Magdas are factory and shop workers, whilst Gretls are domestic and kitchen staff. At the very bottom of this female pyramid are Friedas, the widows and spinsters, over 50, without children and without a man to serve. There is nobody below a Frieda, they are literally the lowest of the low.
Naturally women moved around in these classifications as their fortunes ebbed and flowed. This ebb and flow showed in their general health and well-being too as benefits like better food and clothing were based on the caste classification. Where each group could shop, what they could wear, what rations they were allocated, every last thing was designated and administered by the Woman’s Service throughout the country. A Geli, whose work and general quality of life put her at the top of the ladder, had all the best of what was available and even, depending on who she knew, sometimes more than that.
The heroine of Widowland is Rose, a Geli. The state has decreed that any hint that the past was better than where you are now is to be outlawed. To this end Rose has the unenviable job of editing women of distinction, determination and strength out of books like Jane Eyre and even fairytales. Whilst this is of itself a vile thought, it is not what this book is about. (We should note here that some American states are, as we speak, outlawing books that do not fit their ultra-Conservative, ultra male dominated, racist, anti-Semitic take on what America should be. A vile thought indeed.)
Widowland asks you to reconsider your life and where you would fit into this nightmare, I have found it has really stayed with me as a concept. It is also about the awakening of the understanding that however much one is indoctrinated, the core human concept of right and wrong is much harder to eradicate. The populace are kept ignorant of the lives of other classifications. Everyone can spy on everyone and a Geli will not have a friend who is a Leni and certainly not a Gretl, and as far as Friedas are concerned, they know only other Friedas and are not considered as worthwhile by any other level of female.
Rose gets pulled into a secret assignment to find out who is writing graffiti on important buildings such as the British Museum and others across the country, all near libraries. The graffiti reads, Strengthen the female mind by enlarging it and there will be an end to the blind obedience. This is a quote from Mary Wollstonecraft, (never shy and retiring in her attitude to the position of woman in society) and Rose recognises it. The only lead on who is perpetrating this heretical street painting spreading across the country, is that it is coming from the Widowlands, the derelict and tumbledown areas of large conurbations where the Friedas live. There have been several incidents in Oxford so Rose is tasked with infiltrating the Widowlands there. The Alliance Leader is due to arrive from Germany in two weeks for the coronation and this has to be a thing of the past by then.
Rose’s cover is that she is gleaning information for a book being written by the Protector of Britain about the Folklore and family history of the indigenous peoples. On her trip to Oxford she is confronted with a world so outside her lived experience that she finds it hard to interview the Friedas she has been sent to meet. The house they live in is a broken slum, with no saving graces, except that Rose recognises that they have made it seem like a home. After about an hour and without preamble three men enter and, as if it were possible, wreck the tiny house even more from top to bottom. Every piece of repaired china is smashed, every sagging chair is slashed and, even though recognised as a Geli, Rose is powerfully manhandled and slammed against the wall. Having completed their destruction in a few short minutes, they leave without explaining or commenting.
This event starts the chain of events that will lead to the exhilarating climax of the novel. Several interesting and well drawn characters fill out the story on the way and we are drawn along in a whirlwind of emotions.
If you are female, the lives of the women in this book will ask questions of your understanding of what it takes to be one. If you are male it will show you where male supremacy could lead (and where America is heading at the moment?) Widowland is the heart of darkness in this all too believable tale of female segregation and subordination. Although set in 1953, this is a novel that deals with issues very relevant to the life of woman today.
In the early days after the war, the general populace do not take the ‘take-over’ lying down but the new regime is quick to establish that all transgressions will be dealt with promptly and firmly. If you are caught pulling down an Alliance flag, you will be hanged from the flagpole. Gilead reimagined in the UK.
A rigid individual classification code is in place. Created in Germany this caste system is imposed on the female population in all the subjugated lands of the Empire. At fourteen, all females are called for classification, with ‘Nordic type’ being the highest caste - ASA Female Class I (a). Naturally as time passes, the official titles are overtaken by the shorthand used in everyday life. All the names came from the Leader’s (Fuhrer's) female family members: Gelis are the top, the most perfect specimens. Klaras are fertile women, Lenis are professional women, Paulas are teachers, nurses and carers. Magdas are factory and shop workers, whilst Gretls are domestic and kitchen staff. At the very bottom of this female pyramid are Friedas, the widows and spinsters, over 50, without children and without a man to serve. There is nobody below a Frieda, they are literally the lowest of the low.
Naturally women moved around in these classifications as their fortunes ebbed and flowed. This ebb and flow showed in their general health and well-being too as benefits like better food and clothing were based on the caste classification. Where each group could shop, what they could wear, what rations they were allocated, every last thing was designated and administered by the Woman’s Service throughout the country. A Geli, whose work and general quality of life put her at the top of the ladder, had all the best of what was available and even, depending on who she knew, sometimes more than that.
The heroine of Widowland is Rose, a Geli. The state has decreed that any hint that the past was better than where you are now is to be outlawed. To this end Rose has the unenviable job of editing women of distinction, determination and strength out of books like Jane Eyre and even fairytales. Whilst this is of itself a vile thought, it is not what this book is about. (We should note here that some American states are, as we speak, outlawing books that do not fit their ultra-Conservative, ultra male dominated, racist, anti-Semitic take on what America should be. A vile thought indeed.)
Widowland asks you to reconsider your life and where you would fit into this nightmare, I have found it has really stayed with me as a concept. It is also about the awakening of the understanding that however much one is indoctrinated, the core human concept of right and wrong is much harder to eradicate. The populace are kept ignorant of the lives of other classifications. Everyone can spy on everyone and a Geli will not have a friend who is a Leni and certainly not a Gretl, and as far as Friedas are concerned, they know only other Friedas and are not considered as worthwhile by any other level of female.
Rose gets pulled into a secret assignment to find out who is writing graffiti on important buildings such as the British Museum and others across the country, all near libraries. The graffiti reads, Strengthen the female mind by enlarging it and there will be an end to the blind obedience. This is a quote from Mary Wollstonecraft, (never shy and retiring in her attitude to the position of woman in society) and Rose recognises it. The only lead on who is perpetrating this heretical street painting spreading across the country, is that it is coming from the Widowlands, the derelict and tumbledown areas of large conurbations where the Friedas live. There have been several incidents in Oxford so Rose is tasked with infiltrating the Widowlands there. The Alliance Leader is due to arrive from Germany in two weeks for the coronation and this has to be a thing of the past by then.
Rose’s cover is that she is gleaning information for a book being written by the Protector of Britain about the Folklore and family history of the indigenous peoples. On her trip to Oxford she is confronted with a world so outside her lived experience that she finds it hard to interview the Friedas she has been sent to meet. The house they live in is a broken slum, with no saving graces, except that Rose recognises that they have made it seem like a home. After about an hour and without preamble three men enter and, as if it were possible, wreck the tiny house even more from top to bottom. Every piece of repaired china is smashed, every sagging chair is slashed and, even though recognised as a Geli, Rose is powerfully manhandled and slammed against the wall. Having completed their destruction in a few short minutes, they leave without explaining or commenting.
This event starts the chain of events that will lead to the exhilarating climax of the novel. Several interesting and well drawn characters fill out the story on the way and we are drawn along in a whirlwind of emotions.
If you are female, the lives of the women in this book will ask questions of your understanding of what it takes to be one. If you are male it will show you where male supremacy could lead (and where America is heading at the moment?) Widowland is the heart of darkness in this all too believable tale of female segregation and subordination. Although set in 1953, this is a novel that deals with issues very relevant to the life of woman today.
Widowland is published by Quercus. C J Carey is the pseudonym of Jane Thynne.
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