Book Review: The Sisterhood by Katherine Bradley

In Oceania, whoever you are, Big Brother is always watching you. Trust is a luxury that no one has. Julia is the seemingly perfect example of what women in Oceania should be: dutiful, useful, subservient, meek. But Julia hides a secret. A secret that would lead to her death if discovered. For Julia is part of the underground movement called The Sisterhood, whose main goal is to find members of The Brotherhood, the anti-Party vigilante group, and help them to overthrow Big Brother. Only then can everyone be truly free.

When Julia thinks she’s found a potential member of The Brotherhood, it seems like their goal might finally be in their grasp. But as she gets closer to Winston Smith, Julia’s past starts to catch up with her and we soon realise that she has many more secrets than we’d first imagined – and that overthrowing Big Brother might cost her everything – but if you have nothing left to lose then you don’t mind playing the game . . .

GENRE: Dystopian / Classic Retelling / Women's Fiction

PURCHASE LINK: Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Katherine Bradley worked for many years managing services for people who are marginalised by society; her work has taken her into prisons, mental health hospitals and alongside the homeless. She currently works in education. She holds a first-class degree in English Literature, in addition to qualifications in creative writing and teaching. As Kate Bradley, she published two suspense thrillers - To Keep You Safe (2020) and What I Did (2021). Her work has been described as 'addictive, original and brilliantly twisty' by T. M. Logan and 'heart-stopping' by David Nicholls. Katherine lives in a small coastal town just outside of Brighton with her husband and sons.

Review

I read the original 1984 many years ago and two things have stuck with me: how horrifying the Two-Minute Hate was, and how, at the end, Winston wasn't able to do anything but succumb to the system. And while I was wary of how this book was marketed as "a feminist retelling" — no hate against feminism, I just suspect sometimes that it's either token representation or profiting off a trend — I thoroughly enjoyed how the story was told from Julia's POV and the backstory the author gave her. The twists, how the gaps in the original were filled, the ending. I don't want to spoil anything because I feel that would do the author a disservice, so I'll just say that if you like retellings that expand on the originals and give a fresh look to a familiar world, then this novel might be for you!

I'm not really a fan of lyrical prose (or "prose poetry" as I've also seen it called); in fact, I DNF'd the last book I had with that writing style. I'm also not used to first person — especially first person present — being used outside of YA, though I have nothing against it as I appreciate how it's great for showing urgency and tension. But I found myself liking that combination for this book. The style made Julia's voice clear and compelling without being unbelievable or overly fancy or annoying. I rooted for her, I really did! The ending broke my heart and made my spirit soar at the same time.

One thing I also appreciated about this retelling is how it "updated" the workings of Big Brother's society and included things that, well, we're starting to experience right now. It was unnerving, honestly. Though haven't we already been feeling that, that we're living in some sort of dystopia? (That might be kind of depressing for some, so I totally understand if you wouldn't want to read a book like that.)

I actually whipped out my sticky tabs to mark parts as I went along, among which are as follows:

Science is working hard to eradicate the need for the womb. Officially, it's because infertility levels are rising. Unofficially, pregnancy is too nurturing, and like sex, creates the bonds they wish to break.

When they replaced the television for telescreens, everybody wanted one. What they lost in privacy, they gained in connectivity, features and the latest must-have pride.

Intimacy and affection is not permitted — not even between children and their parents.

There isn't a lock because privacy is also undervalued. Separating people is a way of fragmenting society, to maintain control.

In the fiction department, AI bots will write crappy penny dreadful books that didactically explore what happens when a character decides that war is not peace.

There are files on us since we were born — before we were born. Files on what our parents read, bought, watched, ate, shat and made them horny.

The dean and canons are all long gone, along with the nation's Sikhs, the Muslims and the Buddhists, banished by Big Brother (in increments — legislation against prayer, followed by membership, then identity, until people of all faiths disappeared.)

It's the same propaganda used against the queer community — at the doctor's, hideous photos of a vicious flesh-eating disease are displayed, a so-called record of fact and the reason they give for zero homosexuality.

Despite its apparently infallability, the rise of famfarms — taking babies from birth into large, purpose-built institutions — continues. Big Brother tells us family life is costly and time-consuming, parenting outdated and damaging to the child; it's clear that there's a movement towards relegating family life to the history rubbish heap.

Mental illness is thoughtcrime — it suggests the love of Big Brother is not enough.

"Grandfather reset time. He told me it was easy once they had control of the information systems. It's just a mop-up job afterwards. Deleting records, replacing them. Hacking broadcasters; hijacking key IT channels; book burning; controlling phone providers; taking charge of the media, the influences, shutting down social channels that wouldn't comply. Once they seized the water systems and the Big Pharma, it was easy to control the populace."

"When wars leave people fatigued, hungry, homeless, frightened, they'll accept any real sign of leadership. And don't be mistaken: the tougher, the uglier, the dirtier the leader, is just what they want - because it gives them hope that that person will have the iron fist needed to drive them forward. When people have suffered and suffered and suffered, they're less fussy about the things they should be fussy about." (As a Filipino, this struck me in particularly.)

In conclusion: I love this book. It's my favorite of the year so far!

PS. This doesn't affect my recommendation or my rating, but I just wanted to point out that, for a book published by one of the Big 5 traditional publishing houses, I still found some odd word choices, sentences that seem missing a word or a punctuation mark, and words lacking an s when they're supposed to be plural. I'm no editor, but I've had authors tell me I have an editor's keen eye. (Below is my book. The orange tabs are for those copyediting bits I flagged. Not a lot, but they're there.)

Anyway, my point is — indie authors get so much hate for mistakes like that, yet when a book is trad pubbed, people are generally more understanding. Maybe we can be a bit more understanding overall. 💙🧡

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️️⭐️️

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Hi! I'm Marie, a Filipino fantasy author and book reviewer currently based in the UK. I’m the co-author of The Prophecies of Ragnarok, a Norse myth new adult urban fantasy trilogy, and I also have several short stories published in anthologies and literary journals.

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