When Women Were Dragons

'A soaring coming-of-age novel.'- THE OBSERVER'Completely fierce, unmistakably feminist, and subversively funny. When Women Were Dragons brings the heat to misogyny with glorious imagination and talon-sharp prose.'- Bonnie Garmus, author of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRYIn a world where girls and women are taught to be quiet, the dragons inside them are about to be set free ...In this timely and timeless speculative novel, set in 1950s America, Kelly Barnhill exposes a world that wants to keep girls and women small - and examines what happens when they rise up.Alex Green is four years old when she first sees a dragon in her next-door neighbour's garden, in the spot where the old lady usually sits. The huge dragon, an astonished expression on its face, opens its wings and soars away across the rooftops.And Alex doesn't see the little old lady after that. No one mentions her. It's as if she's never existed.Then Alex's mother disappears, and reappears a week later, with no explanation as to where she has been. But she is a ghostly shadow of her former self, and with scars across her body - wide, deep burns, as though she had been attacked by a monster who breathed fire.Alex, growing from young girl to fiercely independent teenager, is desperate for answers, but doesn't get any. Whether anyone likes it or not, the Mass Dragoning is coming. Everything is about to change, forever.And when it does, this, too, will be unmentionable ...Perfect for fans of THE HANDMAID'S TALE, VOX, and THE POWER.

Report

In this soaring coming-of-age novel, Alex brings up her younger cousin Beatrice, awakening to independence, feminism, and identity as she navigates Bea's urge to "dragon". Fans of modern feminist classics such as The Power will find much to admire here, for teenage readers and beyond. Fiona Noble The Observer

Product details

• Authors: Kelly Barnhill, Barnhill Kelly
• Publisher: Hot Key Books
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: ages 14 to 18
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 01.05.2023
• EAN: 9781471412226
• ISBN: 978-1-4714-1222-6
• No. of pages: 340
• Dimensions: 128 mm x 197 mm x 20 mm
• Subjects: Children's and young people's books > Young people's books from 12 years of age; Fiction > Narrative literature; FICTION / Historical, Historical fiction, FICTION / Dystopian, FICTION / Fantasy / Historical, FICTION / Fantasy / Dragons & Mythical Creatures, Narrative theme: Interior life, Narrative theme: Social issues, Speculative fiction, Narrative theme: Coming of age, Narrative theme: Identity / belonging, Alternative history fiction, Dystopian and utopian fiction, Narrative theme: Diversity, equality, inclusion