Title: Upright Women Wanted
Author: Sarah Gailey
Publisher: Tor Books
Length: 171 Pages
Category: Fantasy
Rating: 4 Stars
At a Glance: This short novel reads like a Wild West tale set in a dystopian future where modern conveniences no longer exist. Outlaws and bandits, vigilantes and shootouts, life on the dusty desert trails once traveled by pioneers and cowpokes, then bisected by interstates and metropolitan cities, set the backdrop for Esther’s introduction to a life where survival is bloody and dangerous.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: “That girl’s got more wrong notions than a barn owl’s got mean looks.”
Esther is a stowaway. She’s hidden herself away in the Librarian’s book wagon in an attempt to escape the marriage her father has arranged for her—a marriage to the man who was previously engaged to her best friend. Her best friend who she was in love with. Her best friend who was just executed for possession of resistance propaganda.
The future American Southwest is full of bandits, fascists, and queer librarian spies on horseback trying to do the right thing.
Review: Upright Women Wanted is a story of resistance that eulogizes and makes heroes of the Librarians on the leading edge of the rebellion, as one should. Tor published this book in 2020, and it now feels rather prescient of Sarah Gailey, five years later, when censorship is running amok in the US and civilized society feels like it’s on the precipice of collapse.
Gailey’s runaway protagonist, Esther, is not prepared for the revolution despite what drove her to stowaway on a library wagon to escape a life in which she saw no possibility of a future. At least not one that would honor who she is. Esther is forced to learn hard lessons, fast, while on the run from what passes as the law in a post-democracy world. She doesn’t make fast friends of the Librarians, Bet and Leda, or their assistant, Cye, either, something Esther struggles with and berates herself for as danger mounts.
This short novel reads like a Wild West tale set in a dystopian future where modern conveniences no longer exist. Outlaws and bandits, vigilantes and shootouts, life on the dusty desert trails once traveled by pioneers and cowpokes, then bisected by interstates and metropolitan cities, set the backdrop for Esther’s introduction to a life where survival is bloody and dangerous.
Along the way, she learns a most valuable lesson about the world: that there is a place for her in it.
You can buy Upright Women Wanted here:
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