Tor.com Publishing has developed quite a name for themselves when it comes to incredibly well-written, weird, and original science fiction and fantasy reads. And Sarah Gailey’s upcoming novella, Upright Women Wanted, is no exception!
Playing off the classic western genre, Gailey kicks up dust, sweeping the reader away to a world they won’t soon want to leave. A future, near-dystopian, world where the State controls everything from available supplies to what you may read, listen to, or watch. As the daughter of a high-ranking government official, Esther is naive to the ways of the world outside of the carefully sanctioned information she has been fed by the State. After Esther’s best friend (and love) is hung for being caught with Unapproved Materials (read: materials supporting the resistance), she hides in the back of a wagon and runs away. Away from both her precarious situation but also from her fears of who she really is – a woman who loved another woman, a woman who has something “bad” inside of her because she doesn’t fit the parameters allowed by the State.
Esther soon learns that she has jumped into more than she bargained for. This wagon isn’t just any wagon… it belongs to the Librarians, whose job it is to deliver Approved Materials across the country. But these Librarians are not what Esther, or the State, believes them to be. As she comes to know Librarians Bet and Leda, as well as their apprentice Cye, Esther is confronted with truths she did not know could exist in her world. Bet and Leda show Esther the beauty of queer relationships, while Cye is proudly non-binary (something Esther has only read about in books). As the group travels across the West, Esther faces an internal conflict between what she has always defined as “good” and “bad.” She struggles to accept who she is, yet slowly begins to actually like and embrace that person.
Gailey carefully selects their words for maximum impact, and in doing so creates a world where the reader wants to join the revolution, become part of the resistance. Even the title is carefully crafted with polymorphus meaning: from the point of view of the State, a “morally upright” woman is one who follows the rules, plays their assigned role, and certainly does not question. From the point of view of the Librarians, however, an “upright woman” is one who goes against the grain, fighting for the right to be equal to others in all ways.
Full of just as much heart and grit as flashy horseback riding and wiley gunfights, Upright Women Wanted blends the feel of a western with a very modern commentary on learning to embrace one’s identity and find one’s people. Gailey’s characters depict strength in its many forms, both visible and concealed. And the greatest lesson, perhaps, is learning how to stop fighting against who you are and to begin to start fighting FOR it.
This novella is one you won’t want to put down and it will leave you longing for more!
Upright Women Wanted is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of February 4th 2020. Many thanks to Tor.com Publishing for gifting me this book.
Hugo award winner Sarah Gailey is an internationally published writer of fiction and nonfiction. Their nonfiction has been published by Mashable and the Boston Globe, and they are a regular contributor for Tor.com and Barnes & Noble. Their most recent fiction credits include Fireside Fiction, Tor.com, and The Atlantic. Their debut novella, River of Teeth, was published in 2017 via Tor.com and was a 2018 Hugo and Nebula award finalist. Their adult novel debut, Magic For Liars, was published by Tor Books in June 2019. Their Young Adult novel debut, When We Were Magic, will be published by Simon Pulse in Spring 2020. You can find links to their work at www.sarahgailey.com; find them on social media @gaileyfrey.
Will you be picking up Upright Women Wanted? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
‘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.
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