Power defines people both individually and as a group; when the power shifts from patriarchal to matriarchal, as in Naomi Alderman’s The Power, unrest brews and a ploy to attain more power unravels.
After years of living with men in control of the world, teenage girls find that they have gained a power – a power that can inflict pain on others through conducting and focusing electricity – and they can help to activate it in older women. As younger girls come into their power fear rises among people, primarily men whose seat of power is now under threat from women. With much of history with women as the center of all things, the reshaped and re-imagined historical documentation of the women’s rise to power and control over society through the perspective of a few select characters shows an entertaining, though unfathomable, tale.
Poignant in its commentary on society and demonstrating how power is able to corrupt and generally thought-provoking, there were good concepts and ideas presented throughout the story, yet the execution wasn’t as strong or developed as the ideas, leaving an disconnect between the reader and the characters and events driving the story forward. Framed as a book proposal that explores history, the unbalanced distribution of character perspective led chapters felt drawn out at times and at others felt like it moved too quickly. In portraying an alternate future/history for society, the manner in which the narrative is compiled and presented to the reader is reminiscent of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale but with a supernatural twist of females being able to wield an electrifying power.
Overall, I’d give it a 3 out of 5 stars.
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