VOX is the debut novel by novelist and flash fiction writer, Christina Dalcher whose work has appeared in several pretigious magazines, including The Molotov Cocktail. VOX was originally published in 2018 by HQ, a HarperCollinsPublishers subsidiary.
Synopsis: Set in a dystopian reality in modern-day America, a fanatical government has stripped all women of basic rights, including their speech, which is now limited to only 100 words per day. As well as being stripped of their jobs, they have also been forced to wear wrist counters set to shock them into submission with a thousand volts if they overstep their 100-word limit.
The story follows our heroine Dr Jean McClellan as she fights against this corrupt system, above all else for her daughter Sonia, who has known nothing but the Pure Movement.
This novel has a very strong feminist rhetoric that almost seems like a look into the imaginings of a misogynistic Republican, vying to make America great again by stripping women of words and rights and forcing them to become domesticated housewives, only fit for cooking and child-bearing.
The overt feminist tone is further compounded by such characters as Jackie Juarez, a former college friend of Jean. Jackie is the complete antithesis of the ‘traditionalist woman,’ in the way she campaigns for women’s rights and her daring fashion sense, which acts as a further affront to patriarchal ideals.
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