Melamed leaves many questions unanswered, which contributes to the nightmarish and hazy quality of the narrative and the lives her characters live. From the moment i discovered gather the daughters was being marketed as a book cult i knew i wanted to read it. Jul 14, 2017 gather the daughters by jenni melamed trigger warning the book hints at child abuse by incest though there are no explicit descriptions of the same. Jennie melameds chilling debut, gather the daughters, is the dazzling dystopian narrative you seek spanning a year in the lives of four girls, gather the daughters hurls readers deep into the heart of a.
During her doctoral work at the university of washington, she. Never let me go meets the giver in this haunting debut abou. Aug 12, 2017 gather the daughters is published by tinder. Summers full of youthful abandon followed by lives of obedience and oppression. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel. Book club books new books good books books to read best dystopian novels dystopian future. She really helped speed things up, make things more tense, and add some major plot points to the book. Vanessa is the daughter of one of the wanderers, the men who enforce the rules and occasionally journey to the wasteland by a ferry to gather goods. 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. Its perhaps not for the faint of heart, but will definitely appeal to fans of engrossing dystopian fiction that. The young girls in this story are both victims of violence and perpetrators of it. A novel by jennie melamed this dream, the dark embodiment of blasphemy, is a shameful secret rooted strongly as a tooth or a fingernail. An intriguing, gorgeously realised and written novel which inexorably draws you into its dark heart. Before i started gather the daughtersi almost didnt.
Gather the daughters by jennie melamed is set on an island in a postapocalyptic world. Gather the daughters, jennie melameds debut novel, presents a world in which child abuse has been normalized, even sanctified, and in which the salutary pleasures available to girls and women are few and far between a world in which girls make a harrowingly quick journey from childhood to motherhood to death. Jennie malameds gather the daughters, is a dystopian, handmaidens talelike novel of control, conformity and collusion. The latest, troubling chapter in feminist dystopian fiction. Childhood, comingofage, dystopian, fiction initially, its difficult to tell the time period in jennie melameds novel, gather the daughters. Photography book about fathers and daughters through time. Gather the daughters is a haunting story of an isolated island cult for fans of the handmaids tale, the girls and the power. The latest, troubling chapter in feminist dystopian fiction the.
On one hand, i couldnt stop thinking about it but on the other hand, i kind of hated it. In isolation, the society established by an initial set of 10 ancestors has developed into what can only be deemed a cult. Gather the daughters by jennie melamed this was the august selection for instagrams salt water reads book club. Gather the daughters was only about 50,000 words in its first iteration. I like horror books, horror movies, grimdark novels, all things dark and twisted. Gather the daughters, a debut novel by jennie melamed, imagines a. Jul 28, 2017 still, gather the daughters is a fine read. Im a huge fan of dystopia and cult narratives so this is right in my wheelhouse. Buy a cheap copy of gather the daughters book by jennie melamed.
Jennie melameds debut novel gather the daughters explores the tensions within a small islandbased rural community in which traditional gender roles hold sway. The novel raises, for this reader, images of warm sand turned to cold sand. In short, gather the daughters is an unforgettable book but not in a good way. Gather the daughters a novel a smoldering debut about a cult at the end of the world, the girls who begin to question the rules that bind them, and the island that constrains them.
Never let me go meets the giver in this haunting debut about a cult on an isolated island, where. Jul 26, 2017 jennie melameds debut novel gather the daughters explores the tensions within a small islandbased rural community in which traditional gender roles hold sway. Incest, rape and a rotten world for young girls and women is whats at the heart of this book. Gather the daughters audiobook jennie melamed audible. Gather the daughters by jennie melamed, paperback barnes. Still catching my breath, weeks after reading gather the daughters by jennie melamed. Gather the daughters is told through the stories of the daughters themselves, and most of the book focuses primarily on four girls. Gather the daughters book bellingham public library. There is a page where a pregnant woman is cut open which is described in graphical detail and might be uncomfortable to some readers. Jennie melamed is a psychiatric nurse practitioner who specializes in working with traumatized children. This is a visceral book on all levels and it is haunting me still julie cohen gather the daughters is an alwayscompelling and sometimesshocking read as the.
Gather the daughters gives motivation to analyze information and is also useful when criticizing plots. It turned out to be one of my favorite books thus far in 2017. In her extraordinary first novel, melamed pulls no punches. Gather the daughters by jennie melamed publication date. Click and collect from your local waterstones or get free uk delivery. Seattle writer jennie melamed s debut novel, gather the daughters, is an unrelentingly bleak story about a fictional island cult in which being female is such a bad card to draw that the women. Melameds haunting and powerful debut blazes a fresh path in the tradition of classic. Here are my thoughts on gather the daughters by jennie melamed. Gather the daughters, jennie melameds debut novel, presents a world in which child abuse has been normalized, even sanctified, and in which the salutary pleasures available to girls and. It is life on an island with little in the way of modern conveniencesno indoor plumbing, no electricity, no weapons beyond knives and a limited food supply.
Oct, 2017 gather the daughters, jennie melameds debut novel, presents a world in which child abuse has been normalized, even sanctified, and in which the salutary pleasures available to girls and. Jennie melamed on a small isolated island, theres a community that lives by its own rules. Jennie melamed s debut novel gather the daughters explores the tensions within a small islandbased rural community in which traditional gender roles hold sway. Set on an enchanted island where magic is replaced by freudian nightmare, gather the daughters is an eerie, claustrophobic tale in the spirit of shakespeares the tempest and grimms fairy tales. Jennie melameds debut novel gather the daughters explores the tensions within a small islandbased rural community in which traditional.
Seattle writer jennie melameds debut novel, gather the daughters, is an unrelentingly bleak story about a. Forget your conventional comingofage morality talesthis book is about the. Jul 25, 2017 gather the daughters is told through the stories of the daughters themselves, and most of the book focuses primarily on four girls. This is a scary, heartwrenching and perhaps even hopeless examination of sex, religion, power and control. Boys grow up knowing they will one day reign inside and outside the home, while girls know they will be married and.
Gather the daughters ebook epubpdfprcmobiazw3 download. Jennie melameds chilling debut, gather the daughters, is the dazzling dystopian narrative you seek. What it doesnt say is that the book is disturbing on so many levels. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read gather the daughters. Gather the daughters is a haunting tale of a society where women are controlled but children are free, and a young woman on the cusp of that transition discovers something that pulls her ideological foundations out from under her. If you ever have the opportunity to discuss the book with others, you will be able to clearly tell their views, as you have taken. Gather the daughters by jennie melamed a book that makes.
I consequently dont feel i can recommend it to a broad audience. Book club books new books good books books to read best dystopian novels dystopian future best beach reads summer books beach reading. About the author jennie melamed is a psychiatric nurse practitioner who specializes in working with traumatized children. I really enjoyed it and recommend you give it a try. Lyrical and ferocious, jennie melameds gather the daughters follows the young. Gather the daughters shares a genetic code with kazuo ishiguros never let me go and margaret atwoods the handmaids tale. Although there is a dark and ugly undercurrent within the book, the prose is perfection. In isolation, the society established by an initial. Gather the daughters by jenni melamed trigger warning the book hints at child abuse by incest though there are no explicit descriptions of the same. At the first sign of puberty, they face their summer of fruition, a ritualistic season that drags them from adolescence to matrimony.