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When she woke

Posted by Angela on 15 February 2012 | 0 Comments

Tags: Angelas reviews, reviews, fiction, new titles

Set in a not-too-distant future, Hannah awakes in a prison hospital, her skin genetically altered to a bright red colour, and her movements broadcast to the American nation on reality TV. Her crime? Abortion. In a society where the lines between fundamentalist religion and government have been blurred and a pandemic has left many women sterile, abortion has become one of the worst crimes that can be committed. Many convicted criminals are no longer kept in prison, but are "Chromed" (their skin colour altered) to match the severity of their crime, and are released back into the community to make their way as best they can. Hannah's crime is made worse by the fact that she refuses to name the father of her baby, who is high up in the church.

Hannah, shunned by her family, must try to make her way in a dangerous world where everyone knows exactly what she has done, and hates her for it. Loosely based on the premise of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The scarlet letter, this is a gripping, thought-provoking book in which the previously devout Hannah comes to question herself, her faith, and the society she lives in. This is quite a dark novel but will probably be enjoyed by readers who like their books to challenge them a little.