Gather the Daughters: A Novel

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Gather the Daughters: A Novel

Gather the Daughters: A Novel

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This is not an unusual novel, but it is a strong example of its kind. And an account of what happens to the rising generation when islanders decide to cut themselves off from the neighbouring mainland to pursue a fantasy of conservatism may be of particular interest to British readers this summer. KD: From the moment I discovered Gather the Daughters was being marketed as a 'book cult' I knew I wanted to read it. Did you have any idea that this particular non mainstream genre with a cult world would be so easily accepted by readers? I'm bursting over with things to share about it I can’t get the words out. This was an emotional read. I can say this - get this book, right now, read it. You'll never forget this book. I'm in awe of the author's writing and imagination. It's her debut novel! Exceptional talent.

Sometimes the way things are done seem irrational or cruel, but the community does not change. Take the perpetually sinking church: "Every ten years or so, when the roof is almost level with the ground, all the men on the island gather to build stone walls on top of it, and the roof becomes the new floor. Vanessa asked Mother why they couldn't just use wood, but Mother said it was tradition, and it would be disrespectful to the ancestors to change it." loc 229, ebook. Wait for them to be old enough to understand,” yawns Mary, “and they’ll be adults. And then you can’t do anything.” (c)

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See,” says Mary. “We’ll hear you better if you’re higher up.” “But it’s stupid,” says Janey. “If you have something to say,” says Vanessa, “and you want us all to hear it…” But before that time comes, a ritual offers children an exhilarating reprieve. Every summer they are turned out onto their doorsteps, to roam the island, sleep on the beach and build camps in trees. To be free. JM: I'm thrilled. I love The Handmaid's Tale.I don't think there would be so many comparisons if the show (which I haven’t yet seen) hadn't just finished its first season.That said, it’s always an honor and I'm not going to argue!

But the complexities and unpredictability of human nature coupled with unforeseen challenges and dangers threaten the intrepid pioneers, until only a handful of survivors remain . . . KD: We all definitely want more from Vanessa and those left behind on the island. Rumor has it there will be a sequel to Gather the Daughters, is there any truth to that? Melamed is a masterful writer, and she establishes a hauntingly vivid atmosphere.... This is a haunting work in the spirit of The Handmaid's Tale--but Melamed more than holds her own. Hopefully, her debut is a harbinger of more to come. Fearsome, vivid, and raw: Melamed's work describes a world of indoctrination and revolt." This summer two of our reviewers reviewed Jennie Melamed’s debut novel, Gather the Daughters. In her DIK review, Kristen wrote: I mean, the world is big, right?” Janey asks. Caitlin sees Vanessa, who knows all about the world, nodding.

She takes off running nowhere in particular, flailing her arms wildly in the dark and laughing louder than she would dare scream at home. It’s summer, and the quilt is hers, the lavish rain is hers, the brimming joyous night is hers. And there are many more days and nights to come. (c) Because of the small number of people on the island, everyone has an assigned job- that they keep for life. Reproduction, meetings and courtships are also controlled by tradition. Never Let Me Go meets The Giver in this haunting debut about a cult on an isolated island, where nothing is as it seems. Years ago, just before the country was incinerated to wasteland, ten men and their families colonized an island off the coast. They built a radical society of ancestor worship, controlled breeding, and the strict rationing of knowledge and history. Only the Wanderers–chosen male descendants of the original ten–are allowed to cross to the wastelands, where they scavenge for detritus among the still-smoldering fires. The daughters of these men are wives-in-training. At the first sign of puberty, they face their Summer of Fruition, a ritualistic season that drags them from adolescence to matrimony. They have children, who have children, and when they are no longer useful, they take their final draught and die. But in the summer, the younger children reign supreme. With the adults indoors and the pubescent in Fruition, the children live wildly–they fight over food and shelter, free of their fathers’ hands and their mothers’ despair. And it is at the end of one summer that little Caitlin Jacob sees something so horrifying, so contradictory to the laws of the island, that she must share it with the others. Born leader Janey Solomon steps up to seek the truth. At seventeen years old, Janey is so unwilling to become a woman, she is slowly starving herself to death. Trying urgently now to unravel the mysteries of the island and what lies beyond, before her own demise, she attempts to lead an uprising of the girls that may be their undoing. Gather The Daughters is a smoldering debut; dark and energetic, compulsively readable, Melamed’s novel announces her as an unforgettable new voice in fiction. Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed – eBook Details I’m no anthropologist, but I believe with these two criteria met, the stage is set for all sorts of abuse to be inflicted on a child- and that it has been, throughout human history. I don’t think these criteria are sufficient- plenty of societies manage not to systematically abuse their children- but I think they are necessary.



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  • EAN: 764486781913
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