Widowland

By: C J Carey

Narrated by: Antonia Beamish

Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

An alternative history with a strong feminist twist, perfect for fans of Robert Harris' Fatherland, Christina Dalcher's Vox and the dystopian novels of Margaret Atwood.

To control the past, they edited history. To control the future, they edited literature.

London, 1953, Coronation year - but not the Coronation of Elizabeth II.

Thirteen years have passed since a Grand Alliance between Great Britain and Germany was formalised. George VI and his family have been murdered, and Edward VIII rules as king. Yet, in practice, all power is vested in Alfred Rosenberg, Britain's Protector. The role and status of women is Rosenberg's particular interest.

Rose Ransom belongs to the elite caste of women and works at the Ministry of Culture, rewriting literature to correct the views of the past. But now she has been given a special task.

Outbreaks of insurgency have been seen across the country: graffiti daubed on public buildings. Disturbingly, the graffiti is made up of lines from forbidden works, subversive words from the voices of women. Suspicion has fallen on Widowland, the run-down slums where childless women over 50 have been banished. These women are known to be mutinous, for they have nothing to lose.

Before the Leader arrives for the Coronation ceremony of King Edward and Queen Wallis, Rose must infiltrate Widowland to find the source of this rebellion and ensure that it is quashed.

©2021 Thynker Ltd (P)2021 Quercus Editions Limited

Critic reviews

"A triumph." (Amanda Craig)

"Convincing and gripping." (Elizabeth Buchan)

"Brilliantly imagined." (Clare Chambers)

Vivid, nail-biting and utterly immersive

When I listen to an audio book I usually spread it over a few days but this chilling counter-factual dystopia of a Britain as a Third Reich protectorate had me so gripped I couldn’t stop listening.

Nobody who has lived through the last five years of British and American politics can come away from this novel without sensing a chilling warming of what could so easily be, if white supremacy were ever to prevail. Though set in an alternative past, Carey’s novel is about now - and tomorrow. But it’s also an against-the-odds story of female empowerment - and a love letter to the female writers who gave us some our best-loved classics.

Carey’s audacious thought experiment takes What If ? to a whole new level. I’ll be thinking about it first weeks. I’m taking it straight to my book club.