Book of the month January 2017 - The Power by Naomi Alderman

[RachelMumsnet]

We're delighted to announce our first book of the month for 2017 will be Naomi Alderman's thrilling new novel, The Power. Find out more about the book. Join us in reading The Power over Christmas, post up your feedback on this thread and join the discussion with other readers and author Naomi, on here between 9 and 10pm on Monday 23 January.

If you fancy joining MN bookclub next year, discover all the books we'll be reading in the first 6 months of 2017 - both fiction and non-fiction. Each month we'll be offering up a chance to access free copies of all these books, and join the authors and other readers for webchats from the comfort of your own home (no babysitter required). Do make sure you're signed up to the books newsletter to ensure you have the up-to-date info on all book giveaways and author webchats.

Thanks for your answer Naomi. I have another one - about the writing process - if you have time to answer!

I wondered how you managed to handle all your material and organise it so that you come out at the other end with a story! I am writing something at the moment and at around the 40,000 word mark I started driving myself mad trying to remember who had said what / when/ what they were called etc. So how do you keep track of it all, really.

Thanks in advance!

Hi Naomi,
Great book, I couldn't put it down until I finished it!!! V ery different to most books I have read. Could I ask you when your next book is going to be published and what type of book will it be?

@lalamcbride

My questions for Naomi Alderman are:

Have you studied or read sociology / psychology? Did that influence your writing.

The reason I ask is that you seem to have girls dealing with a number of "social issues coming from different cultures and values" You have one girl who from a "Crime family- struggling to take power over her male counterparts . While other girls come from homes were traditional family bonds have broken down. Ie single homes , abusive relationships. So do you think that how women are perceived in society is based on their location, culture, family values ?

Secondly You also seem to be dealing with the theme of Matriarch throughout the book - For example how the nuns treat the girls at the start of the book versus the ladies in tribes at the end of the book. Again are you trying to get readers to think about the term Matriarch. How does society and culture define this. What causes it to work, or break down.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

I've had a TON of psychotherapy. Like, 15 years and counting. I highly highly recommend it for anyone who feels like they're getting in their own way.

I have always felt a bit liminal, so I'm interested in writing about liminal characters. Also, they tend to be able to take you to interesting places ;-). Tunde's family is very happy, fwiw. Poor Tunde.

There's definitely a MOTHER theme in the book... and it's important that it's the young women who teach the older ones how to use the power, not vice versa. I'm very interested in the exchange between mothers and daughters - it's never a one-way street.

@Destinysdaughter

My question is, thinking about the the fact that the abuse that women experience worldwide every day would vanish overnight if girls and women had ' the power', does that mean that women are doomed to experience oppression just because ' men can'?

Also, I'd like to believe that, if women were in control, we would create a much kinder world, however, your book seems to suggest that women would be just abusive as men if they they were able to inflict violence as a means of control. I find out this quite a bleak viewpoint and makes me think that we are no better than men and will abuse pp, " just because we can".Are we no better than this?

Also, I was wondering did you think this, as its too hard to envisage a truly equal world and that one gender will always oppress the other because of a biological advantage?

Loved the book by the way! It was original and truly compelling!

Oh man, this is a hard question. Are we doomed to experience it? Maybe if we recognise that any group who could hurt others would have some members that would use that power.... maybe if we recognise that, we can start to put in place measures that can mitigate against it.

I tell you what I'd like to see, just for starters. Teach all girls self-defence, from the age of 5-16, instead of netball and rounders. Teach boys about non-violent ways to solve their problems. I think we could do something to mitigate this if we really wanted to. Not to solve it, but make it noticeably better. But do we really want to, or do we secretly think that men knocking women about a bit is "the natural order of things"?

@Belo

Hello Naomi!

I enjoyed the book very much. Certainly thought provoking! I was surprised by the ending. I have seen the book described as a feminist novel so I thought it would end in a way that was more flattering to women. Did you ever consider an ending that was?

Hahahah! I don't think that "women are lovely" actually is very flattering to women! I think it's sort of anti-feminist to believe that women are somehow intrinsically sweet, kind, loving, nurturing, womb-power etc. I think women are like that now because that's our social position... and if society were different, so would we be ;-)

@mamabear35

Hi Naomi, Read the book over Christmas which was amazingly empowering at a time when,as a woman, I am juggling a thousand balls in the air! I found it utterly compelling, realistically portrayed and as a former journalist I loved the narrative style of writing from the journo's point of view! With all that is happening in the world - was this your opportunity to speak up and remind us Women that while the book is fictional - we are incredibly powerful- especially when we all come together? And what are your thoughts about a new wave of feminist protesting as seen at Saturday's march?

YES. I am so incredibly inspired by young feminists. At such a difficult time in the history of the world, I think that maybe young women can save us. The feminist movement has been one of the most incredibly effective (mostly) nonviolent movements for social change the world has ever seen. We can change things. The world does not continue without us. Together, we are unstoppable.

I have what I hope is a straightforward question(!). Do you think that the society you have reversed for your book ie ours, the status of women comes from physical power over women by men or societal/psychological? The premise of the book seems to be about reversing the physical power rather than anything else?

@yUMMYmUMMYb

The Power. Not my usual type of read, although one I couldn't put down. I genuinely had to check whether this was fiction / non-fiction!! Yes, I am a bit naive sometimes... Naomi - thanks for being here tonight. What gave you the idea for this book? I can absolutely see this as a huge film at IMAX - who would you like to see playing the leading roles?

Obviously all I want to do is 'casting couch' for Tunde, because I am essentially Margot. I don't have actors in my mind for the roles, but I do think it's quite important that Roxy isn't pretty. I suspect Allie of being quite magnetic to look at.

Sorry should be: The premise of the book seems to be about reversing the physical power rather than anything else.

@SallySwann

I thought the principles behind the story in this book were really original. It is interesting how the idea of power can so often end in cruelty and violence and that, even when women are the dominant force, a potential for armageddon ensues. I wonder whether this was the ending you envisioned when you started on this project I'd also like to ask which character you liked or associated with best. I thought the "letters" at the beginning and ending of the book just made the whole thing more thought provoking, but wonder if there was anything that gave you inspiration for this. From games apps to broadcasting to writing, I am amazed how you are able to come up with so many ideas. I will definitely seek out your other works.

Yay, I'm so glad you liked the letters! I also liked them ;-)

I actually didn't envisage that end at the start... but as it went on, I just couldn't make it come out any other way. Maybe I'm a pessimist. Or maybe....

Obviously they're a bit of a nod towards The Handmaid's Tale ;-). And also slightly inspired by my Adventures In Publishing.

@Celama

Hi Naomi

I really enjoyed The Power; the style in which it was written appealed, particularly Tunde's descriptive chapters that allowed you to picture the events as if you were indeed watching them. The excerpts from the online forums also resonated - everyone mouthing off about things which they knew nothing about with people only too quick to believe what they were being told.

I have to admit that I did not feel that the book needed the dialogue between Neil and Naomi as the novel would have worked perfectly well as a standalone however I will caveat that statement with the truth that if I hadn't read the very end, I wouldn't have realised the dialogue was from the future and the illustrations suddenly appeared in a different light!

To me, The way the events unfolded was perfectly believable; it showed the absolute corruption of power and how although everything changes, nothing changes. It showed that there will always be one side in charge - if not male or female then rich or poor, or young against old. Basic human instinct is for self preservation - the men did this first by trying to reclaim their perceived upper hand and then the women did it by having to destroy the men.

To me, Tunde came across as quite a gentle character; my question is if he had been quite a "macho" character, would he have been accepted by the women for so long and trusted by them? Did you ever consider having all your lead characters female or was Tunde's character always going to be a man?

When I wrote the first draft of the book, all the lead characters were women (and there was no Tunde character in there). But I realised that if I had no male character in at the start... there would in effect be no female viewpoint in at the end. And it'd just be the reverse of those movies which are about Men Doing Things And Shagging Women.

I have two young daughters and your book certainly inspired me. My 7 year old came home from school the other day telling me how angry she was that the boys in her class kept showing off that boys were better than girls that they were stronger and could do more things than her. With your novel in my head ( and having also just finished Everyday Feminism) I told her to take that anger and use it to show them that there wasn't anything she couldn't do if she put her mind to it and believed I herself.
In another time maybe I would have told her not to be "angry" or to just ignore it ... but I do t think we can do that anymore.

Thank you for your reply, Naomi. I completely support the idea that, there should be change in terms of the acceptance of the gender roles. I strongly believe that laying out this issue is a first step to a revolution on that field. I'm looking forward for another great title from you :)

@DeviTheGaelet

Great I assumed you were because of writing the novel in the first place but as it was so dystopian I wasn't sure! I'm a huge fan because I have spent quite a lot of time pondering if there are any circumstances in which patriarchy wouldn't be the dominant model and I find it hard to imagine any. Can you envisage a situation where women become dominant without a physical advantage, like in the power?

I am actually hopeful about the possibility that thinking and writing and debating and believing can make a difference. Otherwise I wouldn't have written a novel, I'd just have got myself an armoury ;-).

Some days, when I was writing this book, I felt so powerful it was like I could punch a hole in reality and pull it through into the world we're in.

I believe in the power of IMAGINING IT DIFFERENT. That first paragraph of Roxy's story: it doesn't matter that she's not going to take the lock off, just knowing she can makes her different. I think we all might be different if we just thought we could electrocute people at will ;-). Or at least entertained the notion.

@MardyMary

Thank you Naomi for such a thought provoking novel. I read it over Christmas and was amazed by your timing. You obviously had no idea at the time of writing the book that it would come out during the Trump era. Having marched in London on Saturday, I was quite overwhelmed by how feminism once again took centre stage. It also made me think about your novel Were you marching?

I wasn't, because I'd had a holiday booked for a while! But it was all incredibly wonderful to follow on social media. I do believe we're living in very exciting times, as well as terrifying ones...

@Hygellig

That's my point..there's so much violence and war in the world (historic and current) that I'd rather save for stomach for it for my non-fiction reading. Just my personal preference though.... obviously a novel with this plot isn't going to be a light read. Some novelists want to reflect real life in all its awful detail, challenge their readers and make them think; others go down the Alexander McCall Smith route of saying there's more than enough real life in real life without putting it in novels as well. I think when choosing novels I prefer somewhere in between.

Oh yes! Always read what you like :-). I have very catholic tastes, but sometimes only a cosy murder mystery will do.

@aristocat

Thanks for your reply. I will look forward to seeing the film too.

Are you still involved in game design? It sounds very exciting. You definitely are a lady with many talents

I am! We're about to produce Season 6 of Zombies, Run! And it's still doing very nicely for me and the team :-). I like to keep myself busy and I'm interested in everything, basically.

@RingInTheNew

Thanks for your answer Naomi. I have another one - about the writing process - if you have time to answer!

I wondered how you managed to handle all your material and organise it so that you come out at the other end with a story! I am writing something at the moment and at around the 40,000 word mark I started driving myself mad trying to remember who had said what / when/ what they were called etc. So how do you keep track of it all, really.

Thanks in advance!

the only answer I have for this is that my brain seems to expand to deal with it. It's really a learning process, training yourself in a skill. Your brain will learn how to hold the whole book inside there, and it'll get more possible with every book. So just keep working on it...

@Trinidading3

Hi Naomi, Great book, I couldn't put it down until I finished it!!! V ery different to most books I have read. Could I ask you when your next book is going to be published and what type of book will it be?

Hahah, you can, but I have no answer! I'm just noodling around with new ideas for a book right now. Maybe something about TRUST which I think is sorely lacking in society and public life right now. I have a few ideas... there might be Vikings in there too.

@southsidemum1

Sorry should be: The premise of the book seems to be about reversing the physical power rather than anything else.

I think the social power comes (originally) from the physical power, but is now self-perpetuating. And because physical power isn't actually that important anymore, I think we can fix it.

@mamabear35

I have two young daughters and your book certainly inspired me. My 7 year old came home from school the other day telling me how angry she was that the boys in her class kept showing off that boys were better than girls that they were stronger and could do more things than her. With your novel in my head ( and having also just finished Everyday Feminism) I told her to take that anger and use it to show them that there wasn't anything she couldn't do if she put her mind to it and believed I herself. In another time maybe I would have told her not to be "angry" or to just ignore it ... but I do t think we can do that anymore.

AHHHHH THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY. Tell her I fully support this. I put my palm to her palm and wait for her to wake the power in me.

Ooooh, look at this! With six minutes to go, I think I've managed to FINISH all my questions! Like just about getting everything written in an exam...

One more question if there's time....with 'the power' do you imagine there still being female and male-dominated professions? Would traditionally male-dominated industries become very low status and poorly paid?

Well done! Thanks for doing the Web chat. What are you going to write about next?

sorry x-posted! Thanks for doing the webchat