The Power

by Naomi Alderman

First published 2017

A girl places her hand on a man's chest and stops his heart with electrical force that burns red scarring across his body. Around the world, women suddenly develop the ability to generate deadly electrical charges from their fingers. Four women find their lives transformed as this new power spreads. They can inflict terrible pain or kill with a simple touch. The balance between men and women shifts completely as those who were once powerless become the ones to fear. Society restructures itself around this biological change. The women must decide how to use their newfound abilities while men struggle to adapt to their new vulnerability. The story explores what happens when the capacity for violence transfers from one group to another and examines whether power itself corrupts regardless of who wields it.

Genres: fiction, science-fiction, dystopia, fantasy, action, 21st-century

Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking

Tropes: gender-identity, power-shift, social-commentary

387 pages · Hardcover · Little, Brown and Company

Content warnings: violence

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