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When She Woke Paperback – 18 September 2012
by
Hillary Jordan
(Author)
Hillary Jordan
(Author)
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Product details
- Publisher : Algonquin Books; Reprint edition (18 September 2012)
- Language: : English
- Paperback : 354 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1616201932
- ISBN-13 : 978-1616201937
- Dimensions : 13.97 x 2.34 x 20.96 cm
-
Best Sellers Rank:
522,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 3,828 in Political Fiction (Books)
- 7,058 in Dystopian Fiction
- 29,756 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction
- Customer Reviews:
Product description
Review
"The Scarlet Letter could unfurl from no better a speculative pen than that held by Hillary Jordan. She takes the seeds of that story and roots them in a world where 'right to life' is the law of the land . . . The result . . . is as compulsively readable as it is thought-provoking."
--The Denver Post-- "The Book Case"
"[A] chilling futuristic novel."--O, The Oprah Magazine -- "Kirkus Reviews"
"[A] provocative, politically charged novel . . . [Hannah's] journey to reclaim herself is equally chilling and riveting." --Family Circle-- "The Book Case"
"[A] provocative, politically charged novel... [Hannah's] journey to reclaim herself is equally chilling and riveting."--Family Circle -- "The Book Case"
"An inventive tale about a new America that has lost its way . . . When She Woke is, at its heart, a tense, energetic and lively paced story about self-discovery and reclamation in the wake of enormous shame. It is a story about the price of love."
--Minneapolis Star Tribune-- "The Book Case"
"An utterly engrossing story, driven by a heroine as layered and magnetic as Hester Prynne herself, and reminiscent, too, of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. Absolutely a must-read."
--Booklist, starred review-- "The Book Case"
"Christian fundamentalists may shun this novel, but book clubs will devour it, and savvy educators will pair it with Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter. Essential."--Library Journal
-- "Booklist"
"Hannah's fight for freedom is both a sober warning and a gripping page-turner. Already it reads like a classic." --AARP-- "The Book Case"
"In the chillingly credible tomorrowland of Jordan's second novel, Roe v. Wade has been overturned, abortion has been criminalized in 42 states and a vigilante group known as the Fist of Christ brutalizes violators . . . Jordan's feverishly conceived dystopia holds its own alongside the dark inventions of Margaret Atwood and Ray Bradbury."
--The New York Times Book Review-- "The Book Case"
"It reads like a thriller, and one that makes you think hard, to boot. I've already placed this one on my favorite-books-for-book-clubs list."--The Book Case-- "The Book Case"
--The Denver Post-- "The Book Case"
"[A] chilling futuristic novel."--O, The Oprah Magazine -- "Kirkus Reviews"
"[A] provocative, politically charged novel . . . [Hannah's] journey to reclaim herself is equally chilling and riveting." --Family Circle-- "The Book Case"
"[A] provocative, politically charged novel... [Hannah's] journey to reclaim herself is equally chilling and riveting."--Family Circle -- "The Book Case"
"An inventive tale about a new America that has lost its way . . . When She Woke is, at its heart, a tense, energetic and lively paced story about self-discovery and reclamation in the wake of enormous shame. It is a story about the price of love."
--Minneapolis Star Tribune-- "The Book Case"
"An utterly engrossing story, driven by a heroine as layered and magnetic as Hester Prynne herself, and reminiscent, too, of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. Absolutely a must-read."
--Booklist, starred review-- "The Book Case"
"Christian fundamentalists may shun this novel, but book clubs will devour it, and savvy educators will pair it with Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter. Essential."--Library Journal
-- "Booklist"
"Hannah's fight for freedom is both a sober warning and a gripping page-turner. Already it reads like a classic." --AARP-- "The Book Case"
"In the chillingly credible tomorrowland of Jordan's second novel, Roe v. Wade has been overturned, abortion has been criminalized in 42 states and a vigilante group known as the Fist of Christ brutalizes violators . . . Jordan's feverishly conceived dystopia holds its own alongside the dark inventions of Margaret Atwood and Ray Bradbury."
--The New York Times Book Review-- "The Book Case"
"It reads like a thriller, and one that makes you think hard, to boot. I've already placed this one on my favorite-books-for-book-clubs list."--The Book Case-- "The Book Case"
About the Author
Hillary Jordan is the author of the novels Mudbound (2008) and When She Woke (2011), as well as the digital short "Aftermirth." Mudbound won the 2006 Bellwether Prize, founded by Barbara Kingsolver to recognize socially conscious fiction, and a 2009 Alex Award from the American Library Association. It was the 2008 NAIBA Fiction Book of the Year and was long-listed for the 2010 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Paste magazine named it one of the Top Ten Debut Novels of the Decade. Mudbound has been translated into French, Italian, Serbian, Swedish, and Norwegian, and the film version is forthcoming in fall 2017. When She Woke was long-listed for the 2013 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and was a 2012 Lambda Literary Award finalist. It has been translated into French, German, Spanish, Turkish, Brazilian Portuguese, and Chinese complex characters. Jordan has a BA from Wellesley College and an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University. She grew up in Dallas, Texas, and Muskogee, Oklahoma, and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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Customer reviews
4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
430 global ratings
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Reviewed in Australia on 4 January 2018
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The author writes in an almost musical way, where I was captured by the story and main character. This was an incredible tale of growth and challenges. It was heavier on the Jesus than I would have ordinarily liked, but the faith aspect played such an important role in the society and in the personal journey of Hannah it woud have been strange without it.
Helpful
Reviewed in Australia on 8 February 2018
Verified Purchase
I am fierce about reproductive rights and I would recommend this book to anyone else who is. Dystopian feminist perfection that also isn’t entirely anti-religion or faith. A beautifully written book sadly not too far from our own reality. Very moving and believable.
Top reviews from other countries

V. G. Harwood
5.0 out of 5 stars
Seamless - I have found a new favourite author
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 September 2013Verified Purchase
I love a good dystopian novel and this one really didn't disappoint. I felt it to be so well-written, never overtly criticising the "State society" that Hannah, the narrator, has found herself falling a victim to, never descending into ranting about it or making it too obvious in the telling - instead Hannah lets things slip gradually, so that the reader only discovers the true horror of the society which Hannah and her contemporaries are living within at the same gradual rate. The facts of the State - the diseases, the nuclear bombs, the wars, the terrorists, the bigotry and fear are disclosed matter of factly and subtly so that I as a reader suddenly found myself immersed in a world which was utterly and frighteningly believeable and yet quite recognisable and familiar.
The story itself seemed to be a modern retelling of Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" with it being no coincidence that the character's crime is melachromed to the colour red, both linking it to this historical story (but with a modern twist - but then, let's face it,tales of bigotry, racism and women suffering at the hands of men are as old as time itself) and to the character's ultimate REDemption.
I loved this story - the characters were beautifully developed and believeable, as was the story itself. It was stylishly told and I couldn't put it down for long. Like Hannah, I felt myself to be on a journey - and like Hannah, I had no idea where it was going to take me or what the end result would be. Too many stories are predictable in the end - but I was damned if I knew what Hannah's fate was going to be - even with only 11 pages left I had no idea if she would make it or not.
I cannot recommend this book enough - I have found a new favourite author and I expect myself to be "Mudbound" and getting to grips with the author's first novel, very soon.
The story itself seemed to be a modern retelling of Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" with it being no coincidence that the character's crime is melachromed to the colour red, both linking it to this historical story (but with a modern twist - but then, let's face it,tales of bigotry, racism and women suffering at the hands of men are as old as time itself) and to the character's ultimate REDemption.
I loved this story - the characters were beautifully developed and believeable, as was the story itself. It was stylishly told and I couldn't put it down for long. Like Hannah, I felt myself to be on a journey - and like Hannah, I had no idea where it was going to take me or what the end result would be. Too many stories are predictable in the end - but I was damned if I knew what Hannah's fate was going to be - even with only 11 pages left I had no idea if she would make it or not.
I cannot recommend this book enough - I have found a new favourite author and I expect myself to be "Mudbound" and getting to grips with the author's first novel, very soon.

FictionFan
3.0 out of 5 stars
Curiously old-fashioned...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 April 2012Verified Purchase
Billed as futuristic and dystopian, this novel in fact has a curiously old-fashioned feel. Hannah lives in a near-future America where, as a result of a sexually transmitted plague, the population has been decimated. Religious fundamentalism has taken over, women are back to being used as breeding machines and abortion is not only illegal but abhorred by mainstream society. Having been found guilty of having an abortion, Hannah has been 'chromed' - she has been given a virus that has turned her skin scarlet, echoing Hawthorne's
The Scarlet Letter
.
Hillary Jordan writes well and on a superficial level this is a very readable book. She elicits our empathy for Hannah and we want to see how she copes in a society that despises her. But there's really not much meat in this novel. The 'future' is not so very different from our recent past and the descriptions of the society could have been written pretty much of present-day bible belt America. Jordan discusses the rights and wrongs of abortion, the role of religion and the place of women in the society but I'm afraid has nothing new or original to say on these subjects. There is an acceptance throughout the book of God as a certainty that jarred with me - the question was not whether God exists but how he should be followed. Jordan unfortunately didn't flinch from raising hoary old feminist clichés such as 'Is God a woman?', while the male characters were at best moral weaklings and at worst evil and tyrannical.
Even these criticisms, though, make the book seem more than it is. Ultimately, this is a romance novel disguised as literary fiction. Having enjoyed Jordan's previous novel Mudbound I had hoped for more. I still believe she has the potential to write a great novel - however this is not it.
Hillary Jordan writes well and on a superficial level this is a very readable book. She elicits our empathy for Hannah and we want to see how she copes in a society that despises her. But there's really not much meat in this novel. The 'future' is not so very different from our recent past and the descriptions of the society could have been written pretty much of present-day bible belt America. Jordan discusses the rights and wrongs of abortion, the role of religion and the place of women in the society but I'm afraid has nothing new or original to say on these subjects. There is an acceptance throughout the book of God as a certainty that jarred with me - the question was not whether God exists but how he should be followed. Jordan unfortunately didn't flinch from raising hoary old feminist clichés such as 'Is God a woman?', while the male characters were at best moral weaklings and at worst evil and tyrannical.
Even these criticisms, though, make the book seem more than it is. Ultimately, this is a romance novel disguised as literary fiction. Having enjoyed Jordan's previous novel Mudbound I had hoped for more. I still believe she has the potential to write a great novel - however this is not it.
7 people found this helpful
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S Riaz
3.0 out of 5 stars
When She Woke
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 February 2013Verified Purchase
"When she woke, she was red..." Thus begins this novel, which promises so much in an exciting and well written opening section. Hannah Payne is a young woman, from a religious and strict family, who strays by first having an affair with a married man and then having an abortion. Her punishment in this draconian society, is to be 'Chromed' red - her shame for everyone to see. Much of the strong themes in this book comes from Hannah finding herself an outcast in a society in which she has once been strongly a part of, a believer in, and in questioning the faith she has always followed.
Unfortunately, after a strong start, the plot becomes quite confused. Hannah, after a series of events in which she seems to behave out of character (and then slip back into her 'good girl' persona, almost as though the author is not sure where she wants to take her) finds herself on the run and aided by those she would have called terrorists before her chroming. As another reviewer has pointed out, much of the action is not in Hannah's control and so the story often sees to drag. She also spends much of the book obsessing about her married lover who, frankly, just doesn't seem worth so much trouble and worry. The storyline is a good idea (if somewhat reminicent of "The Scarlet Letter") and I imagine it would have more impact in America, where issues such as abortion cause highly divided and emotive opinions. Overall, the novel was enjoyable but did not live up to its promise.
Unfortunately, after a strong start, the plot becomes quite confused. Hannah, after a series of events in which she seems to behave out of character (and then slip back into her 'good girl' persona, almost as though the author is not sure where she wants to take her) finds herself on the run and aided by those she would have called terrorists before her chroming. As another reviewer has pointed out, much of the action is not in Hannah's control and so the story often sees to drag. She also spends much of the book obsessing about her married lover who, frankly, just doesn't seem worth so much trouble and worry. The storyline is a good idea (if somewhat reminicent of "The Scarlet Letter") and I imagine it would have more impact in America, where issues such as abortion cause highly divided and emotive opinions. Overall, the novel was enjoyable but did not live up to its promise.
3 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars
When She Woke...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 May 2013Verified Purchase
Interesting and thought provoking book, a modern day interpretation of The Scarlett Letter. The Main Character Hannah lives is a future version of our world, but crimes, and their punishments have 'progressed' - the criminals being chromed - the colour of their skin being altered - the color of the chrome depends of the crime, and then they are put back into society for the duration of their sentence. The novel poses many questions throught, is abortion wrong,or murder, or adultery - who is to blame, and what I particularly liked about this novel was that it didn't try to answer these questions for you or for Hannah for that matter - it just showed you Hannahs story in the dystopian future in which she lives allowing you to just enjoy the story and come to your own conclusions.

Kiley
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great read that I genuinely couldn't put down.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 April 2017Verified Purchase
With 2 young children, it's rare that I finish a book in 2 days but this story gripped me and I felt compelled to get to the end. It's a bit wishy washy in places but I enjoyed the story and could realistically see the author's vision of the future. Great read.
2 people found this helpful
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