Truth Sister
Phil Gilvin
Series: Truth Sister
Publication Date:
13 Jul. 2021
Format:
Paperback / softback
ISBN 9781912775620
Knowledge is power. Knowing it, could save you ... or kill you.
Year 2149 in the Women's Republic of Anglia and in the Academy, Clara Perdue is training to become a Truth Sister, a privileged position allowing her to maintain the new order of social purity. Men broke the world as it was, caused the changes in the climate that brought so much pain. Only women can bring order to the chaos and Clara wants more than anything to help bring it about.
But when she stumbles upon information that the Republic has tried to suppress, questions surface. And a family secret that brings danger to Clara's family and only adds to her confusion. Is the social purity she believes in even possible? And in a world of lies, how can she know what is true?
Clara pushed herself into her position of influence and now she must choose. Will she bow down to the institution she she was raised to believe in and grew to love, or will she risk everything for her family?
Clara's choices will impact not only her and her family, but potentially the fabric of the Republic.
Information
Book Type: Senior HighAge Group: 15 years +
Traffic Lights: Green/Amber
Class Novel: Yes
Good Reads Rating: 5/5
Literary Rating: 5/5
Review
In a future London dystopia, now "The Women's Republic of Anglia,' society is ruled by women. History views men has having dominated women and denied them their rights and place in society. After fertility rates fall and diseases wipe out much of the male population, society turns to cloning. Those born through biological reproduction are branded "Naturals' and are rejected by the "Pureclones.' Genetic engineering had also been engaged in, creating "Geemos', but this was supposed to have ended some time ago.
Best friends Clara, Bella and Amy are about to graduate from the Republic's prestigious Academy after five years away from their families. They must "pass-out' (graduate) from the Academy. Clara hopes for a First, which will enable her to become a Truth Sister: the living embodiments of purity and the principles of the Republic's founders. Only Truth Sisters may hold the most senior positions in the Republic. The only males allowed in the Academy are porters, so Bella is shocked when she sees a boy sneaking out of the Academy, clasping stolen bread.
Clara and Bella have been taught that the Naturals are like "animals' and they caused the downfall of society. Clara overhears Amy talking to her mother about forged authentication and realises Amy must be a Natural. Clara begins to question what she has been taught about Naturals at the Academy but she is worried she hasn't passed her examination. She reports Amy in exchange for extra points, which it turns out she didn't even need. Her actions lose her Amy and Bella's friendship.
The Republic is at war with Milland; They consider Millanders to be "terrorist' men who are fighting against the rule of women. The newspapers make out that the Republic is winning, but they also fail to report the known food shortages or the raids of Dutch pirates. On her way home, Clara is caught up in a riot: people are starving, babies are going without medicine, and there is no running water. Sergeant Shavila saves the lives of Clara and her servant James.
Clara finds out that she is a Natural from her mother Sophia, and that James (who she always thought was just their servant) is her father. She is horrified, but her parents want her to continue to act as if she is a clone in order to stay safe. She travels with her aunt, Grana, to the Ministry of Knowledge where her job, as an apprentice Truth Sister, is to go through old books to find knowledge that will help them build their new world. Truth Sisters also destroy the knowledge that doesn't fit with the new doctrine.
Clara finds that her former friend Bella is also working at the Ministry. Bella falls ill and Clara takes her to the doctor. It's the water that is apparently making her sick. Weeks later, Clara sees Waterco engineers inspecting the supply pipes.
Clara witnesses the corpse of Amy's mother being dragged out of the river. Then she receives a letter from her mother that says the Repsegs--Republican Security Guards--seem to be watching them. She packs to leave, but Bella finds the letter and realises that Clara is a Natural.
Bella helps Clara escape from the Repsegs, and as she runs away, she bumps into two old ladies called May and June, who take her into the old London Underground, where a group of women--headed by the Committee--live in hiding. She finds Amy there and the two reconcile. The women are planning an uprising to end the Republic. Amy betrays Clara to the Repsegs, as she isn't really a Natural but simply missing her documentation. In the crossfire, Amy, May and June are shot. Clara escapes and makes her way to her mother's farm only to find her parents were taken away two days before. Aunt Grana betrays Clara for being a Natural.
Clara escapes by jumping out the window and finding refuge in a barn. A group of scrapers--nomads who "scrape a living'--come and Clara joins them. With them is the boy they once saw at the Academy, Jack. They travel across the countryside to Geneco Labs, down by the river, where they see a truckload of Geemos, who are being destroyed due to their disobedience. The group take out the Lab's generator.
Near Oxford, the group hides from troops going off to the Milland war. Clara leaves the Scrapers to go into the city and find answers in the Bodlein Library. Clara finds in the thirty-year-old council papers that the "Aquaster', which they've been told is added to the water to keep it clean, is keeping everyone docile and taking away their natural desires in order to remove men from society. The papers reveal that the substance is possibly toxic and making women sterile. Clara was able to be conceived naturally because Sophia's farm has well-water so she wasn't affected.
Clara heads back to London to search for Sophia and James. She finds James imprisoned; he is to be sent to the Barrier, which protects them against storm surges that are the result of climate change. It's a death sentence, as those working will be caught up in the flood. Repseg Shavila catches Clara and takes her to the Prime Sister, Mater Hedera. Hedera is secretly the Republic founder, Ms Teacher's, natural daughter. She is planning to lower the Barrier to drown the resistance fighters. Sahvila finds out she is a Geemo and rescues Clara, and they leave the Prime Sister to be dealt with by the oncoming mob.
In the aftermath, Clara and Jack plan to travel to the Isle of Wight to try and find her mother.
A thought-provoking dystopia overturning the tropes of female subjugation familiar to us in works such as The Handmaid's Tale. The reversal allows readers to consider how any ideology is constructed by the norms and ideas of those in power. The lack of sexual violence makes it a more accessible read for teens, while still offering complex and thought-provoking themes. An excellent read.
Themes
cloning, genetic modification, prejudice, family secrets, friendship, propaganda, climate change, indoctrination
Content Notes
1. Quote on p.5 references men who would "rape' and "subdue'. The quote is a fictional creation from the Republic's doctrine. 2. Language: shit x 2, bitch x 3, slut x 1, bloody x 29, whore x 1, bastard x 6, tits x 2
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