by Sarah Gailey
Published on February 4, 2020 by Tor.com
ISBN: 9781250213587
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 176
Genres: Adult, Dystopian
In Upright Women Wanted, award-winning author Sarah Gailey reinvents the pulp Western with an explicitly antifascist, near-future story of queer identity.
"That girl's got more wrong notions than a barn owl's got mean looks."
Esther is a stowaway. She's hidden herself away in the Librarian's book wagon in an attempt to escape the marriage her father has arranged for her--a marriage to the man who was previously engaged to her best friend. Her best friend who she was in love with. Her best friend who was just executed for possession of resistance propaganda.
The future American Southwest is full of bandits, fascists, and queer librarian spies on horseback trying to do the right thing.
| Knight's Judgment | |
|---|---|
| Plot | |
| Characters | |
| Writing Style | |
| Cover | |
| Enjoyment | |
| Overall: | |
I’m… not really sure how to describe Upright Women Wanted. In a way, it reminded me a bit of The Handmaid’s Tale but with a Wild West flair, but that feels almost a disservice to this story because it’s so much more.
Upright Women Wanted challenges the heteronormative mindset. Here we have a world where women should “know their place,” as it were. Where men make the rules, hold the weapons, decide how to run their household. Where the War reigns supreme. And where brave individuals have stepped forward to rebel against this close-minded lifestyle and acknowledge all people.
Esther, our protagonist, is fleeing marriage to a man after also being forced to watch her girlfriend hanged. She views herself as wrong, and thinks joining a group of women she believes to be chaste and “right” will cure her of loving someone other than a man. This book isn’t just her journey to accepting herself and understanding there’s a world beyond what she’s been taught, but that her love is as right as the sun in the sky.
I liked the fact that it’s her perspective we see because it’s also the one being challenged right off the bat. As soon as she joins the small band of Librarians taking their Approved Materials across the land, she’s exposed to another same sex couple (F/F) and Cye, who has to explain to her the difference in pronouns (they go by they/them, and she/her when in the company of strangers). In addition, Esther learns that the Librarians aren’t just moving the written word from place to place, but helping “people like her” as she starts to think of them. All against the backdrop of a dystopian wild west.
Talk about a ride.
I loved almost everything about Upright Women Wanted. I’ve come to expect that I can’t get as much world-building in novellas as I’m used to in a novel so that aspect didn’t bother me as much. I still felt immersed in the world from start to finish, and would have gladly read a longer book based in this dystopia. The overall plot worked too, keeping the story moving and tension high from start to finish. The only part that lost me a bit was Esther’s romance.
I’m fine with the romance itself (and honestly it was so sweet, I loved it), but the timing wasn’t great as Esther just watched her girlfriend hang and turns around and starts swooning over someone new. I’d have liked to see a bit more time spent between those two events because that death lost its impact, but otherwise I liked it.
Without getting too much more into the story because SPOILERS, Upright Women Wanted centers a group of strong people willing to stand up against the patriarchy and I am HERE for it. This book conveys so much in such a short period of time and I need everyone to start talking about it. So yes, I would absolutely recommend picking it up!
About Austine
I'm a 20-something research proposal developer with a background in the life sciences and education. Reviewer of books since 2011, amateur photographer by day, and aspiring author by night. I believe animals (and books) are better than people.
Book dragons love comments!