Book Review - Red Clocks

Red Clocks. Our red tick - tocking clocks. The hands of which have defined the identity of women for centuries now and show no signs of relinquishing it in the future as well. A future where, abortion is illegal, adoption is banned for single people and so is in - vitro. A world where teens can very well become parents before they can even vote, but that's a mistake they'll have to live with! And while this book is tagged as a dystopian one, given the current political climate around the world, I am afraid it isn't too far off!   

I finished this book almost two weeks back but have been warding off writing about it because I have such strong opinions about the main theme and the current real life political scenario around it that it is hard to distill those emotions into sentences and opinions. I am not an angry feminist despite sounding like one in the first few lines of this post. Now before you jump to the conclusion that I am not a supporter of feminism, let me tell you I do. But I am also aware that as educated as I am to hold an opinion on this, I am just as unaware of all the multiple dimensions that make up that single worded powerful movement called Feminism. It calls for a deep understanding of various shifts and dynamics in our society and engaging in a meaningful dialogues before forming opinions. Having said that, some of the abortion rules that have been made in the recent times are just plain one dimensional in nature and come to fore in cases like these. 

I digress. Coming back to the book itself, after a lot of thought, I've decided to separate my individual feelings on this topic from the review. If you are still interested in having a detailed discussion on your and my individual opinions about this topic - DM me and we could block a few hours off our calendars  :) 

The book, based in a distant future when these rules come into effect, describes the lives of 5 women in a small seaside town in Oregon and how they are individually and collectively affected by them. The book goes beyond abortion and human rights and tries to question the definition and identity of a woman, trying to separate it from societal expectations. The five women - Ro, the biographer and teacher, single and wanting to adopt or have a child, Mattie, the daughter of foster parents, a teenage girl in  Ro's class who gets pregnant, Susan, the wife who is unhappy with her marriage with Didier and 2 kids, Gin - a social recluse who lives on the outskirts of the town and is known for her natural medicines and lastly Evior - a 19th century polar explorer about whom, Ro is writing a book. 

I picked it up because I felt so strongly about the topic and hoped this book would give me a better understanding of its implications. And it did. It read like a story of 5 women's life over a span of a year or so and attempted to delve into their psyche amidst these rules. It started slow but picked up speed after about 80 pages into the book. The writing style did throw me off a little and I wish they had not paired experimental writing with this topic specifically. This topic needed an 'Ayn Rand' style of writing, with long speeches or monologues on each character's inner voices calling out to the world for attention. 

Without giving out spoilers, I must add that it reads more like a biography rather than a fiction. And that's Red Clocks for you.

I gave it a 3 rating on Goodreads.

Happy Reading!
SSB