Book of the Month: Vox by Christina Dalcher. Post your question for Christina ahead of the author webchat on Tuesday 16 April at 9pm

[SorchaMumsnet]

Our bookclub read for March is Christina Dalcher's debut novel, Vox - a riveting but terrifying glimpse into a world in which women have literally lost their voice.

Find out more and read or listen to an extract. And then grab a copy and join us in reading the book ahead of our webchat on Tuesday 16 April at 9pm.

Buy the paperback now for £5.99

My question is why did you choose, after the opening of the book, for none of the main characters to actually have to wear a counter? I felt that this was the most interesting thing about the book but didn't in the end feature as much as I expected.

Also, if one person (annoyingly a man) had managed to figure out how to remove them and make a realistic fake in his garage, surely it makes the premise of how awful the wrist counters are somewhat less? If one bloke can do it then loads of others would and the keys/fakes would soon be easy enough to buy for those that could afford it.

It's going to be a slightly awkward webchat when we all seem to have concluded that the book was total dross.

“We all” haven’t concluded that actually. I’d read this again compared to the gin-drinking/romance-finding/ending-obvious-from-the-start stuff that amazon seems to recommend to me repeatedly.
Only today I’ve seen someone post on here that “we have achieved equality” and a plot like this is a warning of how fragile our “equality” actually is. It’s not perfect but it’s thought provoking and certainly stimulates discussion!

Why didn’t you let the oldest son continue to be a baddie? The U-turn was somewhat laughable.

Jean was not a particularly likeable character, and ultimately I was not bothered if she survived or not, was this deliberate?

The scene that did affect me was when Jean had her counter on and couldn’t comfort her daughter when she’d had a bad dream. Why didn’t you stick to the counter storyline and have the main character(s) where them throughout?

It wasn't total dross in the least.
I think this was a case of a talented writer rushed into print before the book was ready because people in the industry saw dollar signs before their eyes (correctly, as it happens).

For me the book has a lot going for it as well as the obvious flaws which I won't rehash. The hook is amazing and thought provoking. The storytelling is pacy and readable. And there are some really sensitively observed scenes of the interactions between the family members. I would definitely look out for her future books in a few years - she needs good advice from experienced editors and time to mature as a writer.

It was the last 50.pages. it was so so bad.

*wear

Hi everyone! Thanks for joining me here this evening. Looks like there are plenty of opinions about VOX, so we should have a lively discussion. I'd say "Don't hold back," but it looks like I don't need to do that! I'll start answering questions and chiming in at 9 pm.
Cheers,
Christina

Hello folks! A very warm welcome to Christina Dalcher, debut author of the dystopian thriller Vox.

Thanks for joining us, Christina. I can see a few questions in already, so over to you...

@beeyourself asks:
"I'd be interested to know if the author was tempted to kill off or radicalise some of the more sympathetic characters (the children, Lin etc)."

Originally, I was going to kill Lin, but one of my readers said "No! Wait! Why does she have to die?" I re-thought it, and decided to make this a book where the good guys win for the right reasons instead of a full-blown tragedy.

@lotusbell writes:
"Don't like the style of writing, the way she talks of her 'sex' and his 'hardness' in the sex "scenes""

Noted! Next time I'll be sure to use 'cunt' and 'cock'! ;-)

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel writes:
"I am a SAHM. My life is mostly not spent cleaning and cooking, though obviously I do some of that. If I am going to have a speech limiting bracelet thingy put on then sorry dh, you're taking ds1 to his hospital appointment for his broken arm. You're sorting out the bin collection issues with the council. You're trying to find a new garden bench online and reading all the reviews and then buying it and putting it together because soz, I can't read the instructions. You're sorting out the kids' food tech ingredients. Oh, and I won't be doing any emotional labour other than smiling and nodding so if you have had a bad day at work I am not going to be able to reassure you about it, and you will also have to deal with the boys' friendship and other school issues and help with all the homework."

This is all 100% true! I've been a stay-at-home-wife as well, and I agree there's a ton of work to be done that no one thinks about -- until they have to do it!

Hi Christina I feel a bit bad now for my earlier comments. When I started the book I thought it was fantastic, totally gripped me and was terrifying yet plausible. But towards the end I just thought "what the fuck is going on?" I was confused by the science plot, there were monkeys that could kill you her husband let her go with her lover, her son had a huge change of heart. I liked it until the ending! I'm not sure that's really a question. But I guess why did it end like that? It was the monkeys that ruined it for me!!

@Jenniferturkington writes:
"A little convenient that her long lost feminist friend suddenly appeared.
When Sharon and Del were ‘captured’, she didn’t seem at all concerned about her daughter who was being looked after by them.
And the Italian - seemed a tad unlikely that she would immediately move in with him, along with her four kids, just after witnessing her husband’s death."

Re Jackie showing up -- I suppose it makes sense if you consider that The Evil Government Organization would take pains to track down former friends and colleagues for purposes of upping the pressure on someone!

Point taken re the concern about Sonia!

I honestly can't remember specifically stating that Jean has moved in with Lorenzo at the end. It's been a while since I've read through VOX!

I was so pleased the husband turned out to be a good guy. Silly I know. A question - do you wear a Fitbit, and if so did that give you idea for the counters?!

@HotSauceCommittee wrote:
"I read this and enjoyed it in a state of “willing suspension of disbelief”.
Jean was not some simpering victim wanting people to like her, she was fucking furious, hated the system which in turn set her and her husband against one another. We need more protagonists like Jean. For this reason, I’m a big fan of the works of Lionel Shriver; her female characters are not out there to be nice and liked, as whole generations of women and girls have been raised to do; why would you need to like Jean? Why would you need to like any female lead in a book? Can we not just admire her fortitude and spirit in a desperate situation. Do we not sympathise? I certainly placed myself in that narrative while reading, and I wouldn’t have survived that long like she did."

Ha! I wrote it in a state of willing suspension of disbelief! ;-)

Some readers love Jean, some don't. I totally get that. Thanks so much for pointing out that not all female protagonists have to be likable!

And I love Lionel Shriver, too!

@Bezalelle wrote:
"Feels like rip off of Naomi Alderman's "The Power", to be honest."

Hmm. I don't really see how a book about putting a word limit on females and punishing them if they exceed that quota is tantamount to giving females a talent that ends up flipping the gender-based balance of power. That could just be me. :-)

There are still a few more questions (mostly about those counters!) but before I forget, Christina - could we put to you the questions that we ask all our Book of the Month authors?

What was your favourite childhood book?

What was the last book you gave to someone as a gift?

What was the last book you read?

Can you describe the room(s) where you wrote Vox?

(Also, apologies that our quote function doesn't seem to be working properly! We're trying to fix this but in the meantime, hope everyone can follow :) )

@Tunnockswafer wrote:
"Why did you decide not to show the scene where the poisoning took place? Must admit I was looking forward to seeing the bastards realise what was happening to them!"

As was I! This is a sticky situation, writing in 1st person present POV -- you only get to see the world through the eyes of that one character. So the choice was more of an artifact of my choice of POV.

Hi Christina,
I was also going to ask if the idea from the counter was inspired by a Fitbit. But also if you tried to limit your own words so that you could understand how it feels to lose your right of speech.

Heads up, @ChristinaDalcher, you should now be able to click 'Quote' on the user's comment!

@ChristinaDalcher, bit of an unnecessary response?

@Tunnockswafer wrote:
"Only today I’ve seen someone post on here that “we have achieved equality” and a plot like this is a warning of how fragile our “equality” actually is. It’s not perfect but it’s thought provoking and certainly stimulates discussion!"

I think we've all come far towards achieving equality, but I agree that it like everything we take for granted in our societies is fragile. That was really the idea behind VOX, to show that both literal speech and figurative speech (the voice we use for voting and challenging authority) are both things that we assume to be irrevocable.

@Jenniferturkington

Why didn’t you let the oldest son continue to be a baddie? The U-turn was somewhat laughable.

Jean was not a particularly likeable character, and ultimately I was not bothered if she survived or not, was this deliberate?

The scene that did affect me was when Jean had her counter on and couldn’t comfort her daughter when she’d had a bad dream. Why didn’t you stick to the counter storyline and have the main character(s) where them throughout?

Re Steven -- I actually had a lot of sympathy for Steven while I was writing him, and he's been the focus of many a discussion at book events around the world. It just didn't seem fair to end the novel without redeeming him in some way.

I know many readers don't like Jean, but I also know many do. I think she's flawed in many ways (like most people), but I never intended to write her as unlikable.

That would have been one way to do it, to keep the counters on and write a bleak, 1984-ish, everyone-loses kind of a story. I wanted to write a thriller, though, and thrillers tend to have happier outcomes.

@Ratatouille76

Hi Christina I feel a bit bad now for my earlier comments. When I started the book I thought it was fantastic, totally gripped me and was terrifying yet plausible. But towards the end I just thought "what the fuck is going on?" I was confused by the science plot, there were monkeys that could kill you her husband let her go with her lover, her son had a huge change of heart. I liked it until the ending! I'm not sure that's really a question. But I guess why did it end like that? It was the monkeys that ruined it for me!!

No apologies necessary! There's a bit of science in VOX, probably because, being a scientist, that's the way I wanted to write it. And it's a thriller, which I think some readers might not have expected. But again, that's the book I wanted to write.