So excited for THE WOMEN COULD FLY--Megan Giddings' new novel--coming August 9th
Maybe get you a preorder?
Just wanted to take a moment between posts to highlight a book I’m *very* excited about. I overlapped with Megan Giddings in grad school for a year, and then watched as she published innovative and incredible short fiction in all sorts of excellent lit mags I respect, and then published her first novel—Lakewood—back in 2020 just as the pandemic hit, and LOVED it (although it creeped me out, too, in the best possible way—get your hands on it if you haven’t already).
Now, her new novel The Women Could Fly has a pub. date of August 9th, 2022, and preorders are essential for authors. So read a bit about it, perform whatever cost-benefit analyses you need to, and maybe consider preordering it, either from the publisher at the link below, or via your favorite local indie bookshop (for instance, I preordered my copy through Charis Books & More, your independent feminist bookstore, here in the Atlanta which you could also do if you wish via this link: Preorder The Women Could Fly from Charis).
Also, the cover is astonishingly beautiful.
From HarperCollins:
Reminiscent of the works of Margaret Atwood, Shirley Jackson, and Octavia Butler, a biting social commentary from the acclaimed author of Lakewood that speaks to our times—a piercing dystopian novel about the unbreakable bond between a young woman and her mysterious mother, set in a world in which witches are real and single women are closely monitored.
Josephine Thomas has heard every conceivable theory about her mother's disappearance. That she was kidnapped. Murdered. That she took on a new identity to start a new family. That she was a witch. This is the most worrying charge because in a world where witches are real, peculiar behavior raises suspicions and a woman—especially a Black woman—can find herself on trial for witchcraft.
But fourteen years have passed since her mother’s disappearance, and now Jo is finally ready to let go of the past. Yet her future is in doubt. The State mandates that all women marry by the age of 30—or enroll in a registry that allows them to be monitored, effectively forfeiting their autonomy. At 28, Jo is ambivalent about marriage. With her ability to control her life on the line, she feels as if she has never understood her mother more. When she’s offered the opportunity to honor one last request from her mother's will, Jo leaves her regular life to feel connected to her one last time.
In this powerful and timely novel, Megan Giddings explores the limits women face—and the powers they have to transgress and transcend them.
Their website here: Preorder The Women Could Fly from Harper Collins