Our Discussion of The Power by Naomi Alderman

In The Power the world is a recognisable place: there's a rich Nigerian kid who lounges around the family pool; a foster girl whose religious parents hide their true nature; a local American politician; a tough London girl from a tricky family. But something vital has changed, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power - they can cause agonising pain and even death. And, with this small twist of nature, the world changes utterly.

This extraordinary novel by Naomi Alderman, a Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year and Granta Best of British writer, is not only a gripping story of how the world would change if power was in the hands of women but also exposes, with breath-taking daring, our contemporary world. Goodreads

Below are a sampling of our comments:

• It was thought provoking – I’m glad the women didn’t turn out to be any better than the men at power and that people were fighting back.
• Women are just as capable of being corrupted by power as men
• There was a theme of retribution that escalated throughout the world
• It made sense that Tatiana’s country was the most abusive because that is how the women were treated before they took over
• All the characters were believable and unique
• It was interesting how Eve’s manipulations caused unexpected side effects
• It made sense that there’d be a religious take and a political take on the events in the book with Eve and Margo
• The framing device took me out of the story and was largely forgotten during most of the book
• I didn’t enjoy the torture porn and it got gratuitous, also the story didn’t really have an ending
• Was the voice in Allie’s head a form of schizophrenia or the voice of God? It seemed to give her true guidance
• The story of the journalist Tunde showed his sympathy for the women until he became a victim

Please add any additional thoughts or comments you may have about The Power. We gave this title the codes FEM, ALT, UTP, REL, ETH, HIT, NARC, & POL with an average rating of 4.0.