The Book of the Unnamed Midwife is a story, but the reality of Elison’s women – chained, beaten, raped, and sold – is not speculative fiction. I grieved for our sleeping daughters unaware of the violence capable by the hands that tuck them in at night, and I grieved for the women whose eyes are wide open right now. Elison’s violent, post-apocalyptic world set me on edge, and I took a week off to grieve.

We’re praying they’ll leave with Jane.īut it can be too much. We’ve pushed the furniture against the doors with Jane. We’re hiding in a locked cabin with Jane.

We’re holding our breath in a dumpster with Jane. We are running from a mob of men with guns and knives with Jane. They’re witnessed through Jane’s eyes, and the eyes of some of her temporary companions, accompanied by an underlying acidity of fear. Graphic descriptions of rape, genital mutilation, torture, disease, death, and mental and emotional abuse color every page. Elison never shies away from describing the brutality of men – yes the male sex – in their absolute animalistic and sadistic treatment of women. How did this happen? How did our infrastructure crumble? How are these haunted humans finding the strength to rebuild?Īnd, as I continue reading, this glimpse into the distant future comforts me: the world will heal.īecause The Book of the Unnamed Midwife is not a novel for a weak stomach. The prologue pulls me in, making me hungry for answers. It’s a mournful future, set in a crumbling school building with children transcribing Jane’s diary entries to preserve the nightmares of the past. While there are many good reasons to skip the prologue, especially in speculative fiction, The Book of the Unnamed Midwife creates immediate intrigue by giving us a disturbing look at the future of our world. Elison begins her book with a prologue – and it works.

The book of the unnamed midwife plot