/lit/ - Literature

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife, The Road to Nowhere #1 - Meg Elison (2014)

This is a post-apocalyptic story where a disease has killed 98% of men, 99.8% of women, and 100% of births. The narrative begins with a frame story saying that these events took place centuries ago, the history of which is chronicled in 19 handwritten journals that are collectively called The Book of the Unnamed Midwife. These books function as their civil religion, though its practice has elements of traditional religion that have accumulated over the centuries.

The journals were originally intended to be private rather than public, so their presentation differs from standard stories. The beginning is especially informal, though the writing becomes more formal later on. Because they are journal entries, their reliability and accuracy isn't guaranteed. Sometimes there are substantial changes from one sentence to the next because the writer went away and did other stuff before completing the entry for that day. I liked this affect, though I would understand if others found it bothersome or jarring.

There are also times where the POV changes to third person omniscient and how the information is presented is unclear, to me anyway. It may be the in-universe author speculating about what happened to provide an imagined resolution for their own benefit, or it may be additional information added by others over the centuries, or it could be Elison letting the reader know what happened outside of the context of the frame story. This had me thinking a lot about the in-universe possibilities that may have occurred up to current day in the story that led to the creation of their canon.

As for the story itself, it follows an unnamed woman who tries to pass as a man for her own safety. This is a dark story. If I listed out everything potentially offensive, it'd be a long list. The treatment of women, who are outnumbered by men by at least 10 to 1, is especially brutal. Sexual slavery is commonplace and women are treated as commodities. Sexuality is explored in various ways. One thing there isn't though is cannibals. Overall this is a small story of a woman wandering through the United States just trying to survive in a world that's hostile to her and hoping that one day she finds something better than what she's found so far.

I came across this by looking through the spreadsheet of short fiction I've read to see what novels the women I've read had written. I'm continually surprised by how often I think the short fiction and novels an author writes can be so different in every way, especially in terms of my enjoyment. I had read a few of her short fiction which were published after this book, which were ok, but not something I personally particularly enjoyed. This book however is something special. It'll probably be among what I enjoyed the very most this year. I can only hope that the following two books of the trilogy are anywhere near as enjoyable.
Rating: 5/5