The book of Etta takes readers to a world where the remnants of humanity are trying to settle their lives on the ruins of civilization.
Etta's Book is the second volume of Meg Elison's series, The Road to Nowhere. In the first part, The Book of the Nameless Midwife, we followed the fate of the heroine who, as one of the few women, survived the plague decimating humanity. Disguised as a man, he traverses the ruined world, looking for a new place to live, and at the same time tries to bring comfort to the few, often imprisoned by men, women.
The action of The Book of Etta takes place several dozen years later, when communities have already developed to deal with new challenges in a better or worse way. Etta lives in just such a settlement (the same one where the Midwife lived) and specializes in obtaining goods (both from trade and looting the remains of the old world) and saving women exploited by men. It is thanks to her that we get to know a world that is a little less chaotic, but still full of dangers and challenges.
On a macro scale, the biggest one is the growing power of a militarized settlement trying to subjugate the nearest areas. Etta, somewhat involuntarily, becomes involved in business with her leader, which affects subsequent events and poses a threat to the heroine's relatives.
On the other hand, on a micro scale, we follow the dilemmas of the protagonist who tries to find herself, develop her own identity. On the one hand, she does not feel well being one of the women in her hometown, colliding with expectations and tradition. On the other hand, she also does not feel fully comfortable traveling the world dressed as a man. And these dilemmas, to an even greater extent than the previously mentioned threads, fuel the plot.
Elison creates engaged prose. In the first part, the tragic situation of women in a male-dominated society came to the fore, which evoked some associations with Margaret Atwood's Handy Tale (although the Book of the Unnamed Midwife is a novel with more ... action, because the term adventure does not fully fit it). Also in The Book of Etta, the author does not avoid drastic scenes and emphasize that strength or position in a moment of crisis can be used and abused for evil purposes. However, new elements appear, diversifying the issues of the series. Elison still revolves around the issue of sexuality, but also tries to raise the issue of tolerance and acceptance of otherness. In a world where women are still rare, it was necessary to develop other social mechanisms, but it also turns out that being open to one solution does not automatically mean accepting different attitudes or preferences. It boils down to the fact that the heroes, although they live in completely different conditions, have to deal with similar problems of tolerance, acceptance and otherness as minorities in our society.
The Elison series interestingly combines the post-apocalyptic convention with more serious problems. It is not only the action itself and survival stories, but an attempt to pose questions that are also relevant today. Not everything is fully developed by the author, but against the background of the genre it is a position worth paying attention to..
