In this alternate version of history, Great Britain and Nazi Germany forged an alliance in 1939, preventing World War II and creating a “Protectorate” in England in which women are divided into castes, Jewish people are mostly barred from public life, and reading for pleasure is discouraged, though not yet outright banned. It is now 1953. Our protagonist Rose is a “Geli”, the highest rank a woman can achieve, and works for the Ministry of Culture where she rewrites classics of English literature to better fit within the Nazi ideology. While all of England prepares for the official coronation of King Edward and Queen Wallis, anti-Protectorate graffiti has been popping up in London, Oxford, and other cities across the country. Senior officials believe these acts to be part of a larger rebellion against the Protectorate and the “Leader”. Rose is tasked to infiltrate Widowland – a ghetto to which childless women over 50 have been banished – to track down the perpetrators and lead Protectorate officials to the larger conspiracy. Will she do her duty? Or will the growing spark of resistance within her ignite and catch fire?
Widowland is a dystopian alternate history, a terrifying mix between The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984. C.J. Carey does some phenomenal world-building, showcasing how an organized propaganda branch could so fully blind the people to the realities of their situation. Every mention of “The Ministry” of this, or “The Division” of that is followed by some horrifying fact of life in this version of England. People are disappeared, neighbors spy on each other, and no one can be trusted, not even your own family. In this version of history, nobody discovered the concentration camps so the Nazis were able to carry out their atrocities with no outside interference. The Holocaust has not been brought to England yet, but there are terrifying hints dropped by the Nazi government officials that this will soon change. And the mostly casual way the characters discuss the Great Relocation – when almost every man between the ages of 18-35 was removed from England to “work on the Continent” – is chilling.
I read this back in August and am writing the review three days post-election, so this hits especially hard. If you are in a fragile place right now, this book might be a toss-up. I recommend Widowland because I think it’s an excellent book, but do want to give a fair warning to others. There’s hope – there is always hope – but there is a lot of despair and fear as well. But there is also the reminder that even those who seem the most powerless can effect change. And I think we all need that right now.