Meg Elisons Book of the Unnamed Midwife
Show #151 | Guest: Meg Elison is a Bay Area author and essayist. Her debut novel, THE BOOK OF THE UNNAMED MIDWIFE won the 2014 Philip K. Dick Award, and in its new release named as a Book of the Year by both Publisher\u2019s Weekly and Amazon. Its sequel, THE BOOK OF ETTA, is due in 2017. | Show Summary: \u201cBook of the Unnamed Midwife\u201d, acclaimed in its 2014 release, is out in an updated version, with eerily appropriate timing. Americans awaiting their new president may find the plot description unnerving: When she fell asleep, the world was doomed. When she awoke, it was dead. In the wake of a fever that decimated the earth\u2019s population\u2014killing women and children and making childbirth deadly for the mother and infant\u2014the midwife must pick her way through the bones of the world she once knew to find her place in this dangerous new one. Gone are the pillars of civilization. All that remains is power\u2014and the strong who possess it. A few women like her survived, though they are scarce. Even fewer are safe from the clans of men, who, driven by fear, seek to control those remaining. To preserve her freedom, she dons men\u2019s clothing, goes by false names, and avoids as many people as possible. But as the world continues to grapple with its terrible circumstances, she\u2019ll discover a role greater than chasing a pale imitation of independence.