About Sisterland

by Martina Devlin

Welcome to Sisterland. A world ruled by women. A world designed to be perfect.

Here, women and men are kept separate. Women lead highly controlled and suffocating lives, while men are subordinate – used for labour and breeding.

Sisterland’s leaders have been watching Constance and recognise that she’s special. Selected to reproduce, she finds herself alone with a man for the first time. But the mate chosen for her isn’t what she expected – and she begins to see a darker side to Sisterland.

Constance’s misgivings about the regime mount. Is she the only one who questions this unequal society, or are there other doubters?

Set in the near future, About Sisterland is a searing, original novel which explores the devastating effects of extremism.

Genres: Fiction, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Fantasy

377 pages, Paperback

First published August 12, 2015

About the author

Martina Devlin is an Irish novelist and journalist. She lives in Dublin with her husband David and their cat Chekhov - the latter snoozes at her feet and keeps her company while she writes. It's all a far cry from her Fleet Street days, when she went to Parkhurst (a maximum security prison) to meet gangland leader Reggie Kray, was shown how to do The Twist by the maestro Chubby Checker, and kept watch while Anthony Burgess of 'A Clockwork Orange' filled his pockets with all the uneaten cakes at their interview over afternoon tea. She has had nine books published, beginning in 2000. Her work has won a number of prizes including the Royal Society of Literature's VS Pritchett Prize and a Hennessy Literary Award, and she was twice shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards. A current affairs commentator for the Irish Independent, Martina has been named columnist of the year by the National Newspapers of Ireland. She is vice-chairperson of the Irish Writers Centre, and has a certificate as a chartered director from the Institute of Directors. But none of that impresses Chekhov the cat.

Reviews

[Margaret Madden · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
Sisterland is all about women. Men are only needed for breeding and heavy labour. Women no longer need them and every female has a role within the land. There are limited thoughts allowed, memories are censored via 'memory-keepers' and emotions are strictly controlled. The governing body of Sisterland are a group of nine women, who make all decisions for the good of their country. Mothers are not allowed bond with their babies, male children are not celebrated and the concept of love is unknown. Living quarters are allocated, not chosen, life partners are assigned and every day is extremely regimental. Women can not leave their homes without wearing masks to protect them from the atmosphere and 'nature' is piped in through speakers and air vents in the form of bird song and various scents.
Constance is struggling with controlling her emotions and when she is chosen to 'baby-fuse' and become pregnant, for the good of Sisterland, she feels 'mos' that she had never know existed. Her regimented surroundings start to seem smothering and she has more questions than answers. If only she had someone to talk to. Can she risk asking about her feelings? Is there anyone in Sisterland she can completely trust? Is this place really for the benefit of womankind or is there more than meets the eye?

Martina Devlin has delved into her imagination and thrust the reader into a world of 'what if'...
What if you were not allowed think what you wanted to? What if emotions were a commodity? What if you were only giving birth to increase the population? All combined, these concepts are fantastical, but when individually examined, many have occurred in many regimes, worldwide, already. How insane was the Nazi regime during WWII? How many baby girls have been dumped in China? How many young women were used for breeding an Aryan Race? Why do whole countries let a small number of people make such important decisions without questioning their motives? Simplistic, I know, but hindsight is a wonderful thing and this book brings the idea to a new level. Set in the near future, science is not the cause of this extreme idea of a female-led society. Unusually, there is no manipulation of embryos, artificial insemination or test tube trials. The good old fashioned baby-making ways are used, but under controlled guidance from specialised staff. Pregancy terms are shortened, to facilitate more births at a faster rate, and 'Sourcing places' take the place of hospitals. The Nine (the governing body of Sisterland) are a sinister crew, who have more than a few shady moments, making the book even more interesting. How far-fetched is this novel? Not very, it seems. Restricting the flow of information and editing history can lead to a very different future. Clever manipulation, piped smells and music, thought-forming chants and complete segregation. Is it completely improbable? This amazingly clever novel makes it seem eerily possible. Using an inquisitive young woman as its protagonist, the author is able to address the whole background to Sisterland, and how it came to be. The additional characters are fantastically drawn and link many issues seamlessly. It may take the reader a little while to settle into the language and identify with individual characters, but once in, you won't want to leave this bizarre world. Your dreams may move to another level, your thoughts on history may jar and your awareness of your own emotions may increase. Welcome to Sisterland. A world not that far removed from the one we live in...
Highly recommended.

[Orla McAlinden · Rating 5 out of 5]

About Sisterland

Urban fantasy (fantasy/sci-fi set in a world that is very definitely and recognisably Earth) is not a genre I read often, for no reason other than there being only so many hours in a year. How glad I am that I picked up Martina Devlin’s urban fantasy ‘About Sisterland’, which I chose based on her previous excellent novels, rather than on genre per se.

Sisterland is a utopian society set in the 22nd Century, occupying the area we know as North and South America. After Man-kind virtually destroyed the Earth during World War III, the women of Sisterland had no choice other than to seize the reins of power. Eschewing the violence, emotion, instability and danger inherent in the failed Patriarchy (which had had ten thousand years to prove itself, to be fair) the benign dictatorship of Beloved and “the Nine” set out to create a utopia of calm, rational, non-violent, equitable living. What could possibly go wrong?

It is impossible to read this chilling novel without reference to some of the absolute literary classics which have informed its creation. Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Margaret Atwood and Terry Gilliam’s Brazil were all close to mind as I read Sisterland. The world has developed its own range of Double-speak and the neologisms are interesting and easy to place (although a helpful glossary is included). The “Soma” of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (a gram is better than a damn) would not be tolerated in Sisterland, which has a fairly draconian attitude to healthy living and mind-altering substances, although wine is allowed. But the function of Soma (to placate and ameliorate the masses) is given over in Sisterland to workers called Flickers who dispense careful rations of positive emotions to sisters who need them (and who can afford them). As our protagonist, Constance, is about to discover; all sisters are equal, but some sisters are more equal than others.

Unlike in Huxley, there is no official hierarchy of inhabitants, no woman is an Epsilon semi-moron, sweeping the streets, because Sisterland is a meritocracy and all work is for the good of the community and no work is demeaning…well, apart from that carried out by men. I found it fascinating that after a lifetime of talking and reading about farmhands and hired hands, I never fully appreciated the demeaning and insulting nature of the phrase until a café owner in Sisterland speaks of having “two pairs of hands” working in the kitchen. The hands are attached to arms and the arms are attached to men, but that’s not really in her thoughts; when these two pairs of hands wear out, they will be ‘discontinued’ and replaced with new young slaves. Problem solved.

Devlin has taken a fascinating sideways glance at extremism and segregation. Whether you choose to see this as a parable of Northern Ireland’s two communities pulling apart instead of working together, the scandal of misogyny and female subjugation, or the widening chasm between Western values and those of the developing world, Devlin gives us a not very exaggerated view of what happens when we decide to waste the talents and abilities of an entire sub-section of our human family.

Fascinating and worthy book. Highly recommended.

[Hannah Polley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not that gripping and doesn't have the most fleshed out future universe but it certainly raised a lot of internal questions for me whilst I was reading it and I found that the most interesting thing about it. I think it would be a great book for a book club or any kind of discussion.

'About Sisterland' is set in the future after World War III. The world is now ruled by women and men are second class citizens - they are only kept for mating and breeding. Crime has been eradicated from the world and the world is full of carefully controlled beauty and order. Men are brought out once a month for women who are ovulating and given pills to perform.

The book has tried to focus on the inequality between the genders and how unfairly men are treated by women. The main character of the novel, Constance, is told that men and women used to live together equally and she starts trying to bring about change in the society.

What bugs me about this book is that it propagates the myth that men and women are currently treated equally. That is not true. And if Constance's aims are eventually achieved, I think she might end up regretting it because there is no way the men will stay subjected or 'equal' for long. Therefore, I ended up in a place where I didn't like the current society in the book but I also could not support the rebellion, so I didn't feel connected to either side of the argument.

It is also quite a sexist book against women. One of the ways that women have achieved being in charge, is that they have subdued their emotions and now carefully control them. I found that the most ridiculous and offensive thing to put in the book. Essentially, it is arguing that women are weak due to their emotions. It also really annoyed me that the women get a gothic fantasy or lots of shoes to seduce them - are you kidding me?!

As I have said, the best thing about this book is the questions it raises. The content itself is very questionable.

[Noll · Rating 3 out of 5]

About Sisterland started off exceptionally well - so much so that I was actually surprised that it is so little known. Martina Devlin is no newbie to noveling, and yet this book has very few reviews or ratings on Goodreads. Comparatively, YA dystopia Only Ever Yours (also dealing with extremism, but related to aesthetic pressure on women) absolutely blew up the YA and Irish book worlds. Granted, towards the end of this novel - maybe two thirds of the way through - I began to feel it was losing its way and it never quite recovered - ultimately not packing nearly as strong a punch as the aforementioned OEY, but it's still a very original, interesting spin on extreme dystopia. It also throws local lingo at the reader without explanation (other than a glossary at the back), so the reader is forced to pay attention and catch on quickly. This is one of the few dystopian books that has successfully drawn me in on that front.

This book is extremely easy to read - I read two thirds of it in one evening, and finished it the next afternoon - and the dystopian setting constructed by Devlin is wonderfully detailed and equally fascinating. From the outset, small unsettling details like the covering of womens faces with masks, and the apparent inability of women to feel, will strike unease in the reader. Over the course of the novel, a complex, allegedly utopic society is gradually deconstructed by Constance and the followers of her deceased other, Silence. One of my favourite aspects of this novel is the portrayal of men as base creatures, slaves to female governance - a lot of dystopian books I've come across either subjugate women, or a mixed-gender class of society. But I also loved that women did not get off Scot-free either - this is not the story of men rebelling against female overlords, it a chilling, thought-provoking study of multi-faceted extremism - enforced slavery and pleasant brain-washing.

So why then, did I only like and not love it? Unfortunately, the last third let it down in my opinion. The pace began to change, too much happened too easily and without enough explanation. Several things were mentioned, but not elaborated upon. Many of the characters, aside from Constance and Harper, blended into one for me, and I found myself unable to discern specific characters beyond their political allegiances. And ultimately, the final third just packed in too much unnecessary content that felt like a drawn-out epilogue, for a resolution that could have been brought about far more simply. It felt disjointed, and not a natural conclusion for an otherwise great story.

All the same, worth a read if the premise intrigues you.

[Mary Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Welcome to Sisterland, established in the wake of WWIII, ruled over by women, for the benefit of women, where men are segregated and used only for unthinking work and for procreation.
Emotions are supressed and individualism is discouraged and everyone is content.

This isn’t going to work you are thinking, and yes, cracks start to appear.

This is a well written, imaginative and cleverly designed book, but the danger about detailing a bland society such as this one, is that the book itself starts to feel bland. The love interest in itself is not enough and Hunger Games type activity does not feature. Missing most of all though for me is a sense of humour which would help with the message of power corrupts

[Lorna Sixsmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe I was making unfair comparisons when reading this as I really enjoyed Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and I thought Devlin's previous book The House Where It Happened so good, it was one of the best books I read that year, but this seemed weak in comparison. I enjoyed the concept of the "Sisterland", the elements of dystopia such as the allocation of moes, the matriarchal society and the strict regulation re babyfusing. I just didn't care enough about the main characters and felt the last fifty pages were written as if racing towards the finish.

[Joe Crill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both females and males have the same innate and finite number of emotions as a whole, but when it comes to each individual person either female or male that is where it changes. Emotions are not relegated via genderism but rather by individualism. Everybody is different at the individual level and we each share different emotions in different ways. One individual may have a tighter control over a certain emotion while another individual has a weaker control over that very same emotion. Emotions are a psychological study not a sociological study, therefore emotions or certain emotions do not belong to one gender or one race or one society. Now when a society tries to oppress emotions and memories like Sisterland does; then it is a society trying to suppress and control the human will of the individual which makes that society very non-tactile and sterile. This is never a good thing nor will it work one hundred percent effectively. There is one book I would advise a reader to read before or after they read Martina Devlin’s ABOUT SISTERLAND and this book is Aldous Huxley’s BRAVE NEW WORLD REVISITED. It is a great non-fiction work explaining how people who hunger for power will use propaganda to brainwash and control the individual.
The major thing I got out of Devlin’s ABOUT SISTERLAND was yes, of course, in speaking of physical biology, females and males are quite obviously different, but emotionally females and males are quite the same. In the “Interview with the author” section Devlin is asked this question: “Can you reduce ABOUT SISTERLAND to one sentence?” Devlin responds with “I can reduce it to one word: extremism.” As in most dystopian novels, the theme is how totalitarian societies operate in wanting total complete control of their citizens or subjects, but I think the deeper meaning of ABOUT SISTERLAND is emotions and how they play out in the life of individuals.

Devlin also has shown through ABOUT SISTERLAND that there is a very fine line between groupism and individualism. A society cannot force all of its citizenry to conform 100% to the will of the leader or leaders of that society. For the most part, they can get the majority to conform to most of their ideas and plans. The majority in this instance are usually considered asleep and led blindly by the leadership of their society. H. L. Mencken coined the term “boobigeois” to this definition. Now, how a revolution happens is when the majority no longer can support the leadership of their society and they revolt against the leadership of that society. In other words, the haves {the leadership} are defeated by the current have nots {the minority who now have become the majority} now after the revolution is over the old have not minority become the new majority while the old have majority becomes the new have not minority. This can be summed up by the theory promoted by Hegel know as historical dialectics. Historical dialectics also can be summed up in a simple mathematical formula which is as follow: thesis + antithesis = synthesis.

In writing dystopian literature, an author seems confined to finite topics and within those narrow confines different authors seem to come up with new and refreshing storylines of their own that richly enhance the genre of dystopian literature. Devlin has most brilliantly excelled at doing this with ABOUT SISTERLAND. Devlin has found another genre of literature that she belongs in the upper echelons of that genre and that genre would be dystopian literature. ABOUT SISTERLAND rates right up there, no it surpasses, Orwell’s ANIMAL FARM and 1984 as well as Huxley’s BRAVE NEW WORLD also Bradbury’s FAHRENHEIT 451.

Devlin, as in her past novels, has done it again with ABOUT SISTERLAND. She has so richly given us both in depth sociological and psychological dimensions to the development of each one of her characters found in ABOUT SISTERLAND even right down to the most minor one, as well as, giving us most vivid and lucid details of each one of her settings in ABOUT SISTERLAND that it makes you feel that you are apart of the story as a character instead of just a mere reader of the novel. This is a true mark of an excellent author and writer of fiction of any genre and that is why Devlin should be considered to be in the upper echelons of the elite class of fiction writers of all time.

ABOUT SISTERLAND should be a college textbook in an upper level college course of literature, history, sociology, psychology, political science or philosophy. If I was a professor at university teaching a course in dystopian literature, I would make Devlin’s ABOUT SISTERLAND required reading and it would be read completely every time I taught the class. I would require each student of the class to write a minor opinion paper on it, as well as, have an exam on it. Both would count as 25% of their total grade.

Now, to the book.

Devlin delves into emotions and memories in a most highly complexed way, but how she effectively does this is to make them very understandable through her characters feelings and how they react to them.

In ABOUT SISTERLAND, Devlin also effectively gives us an understanding of how a relationship between a man and a woman develops in various ways: sexually, emotionally, etc. through her two main characters Constance and Harper. Devlin also discusses how important family life between a man and a woman is as well as how it is important when a baby comes along. It is not fair for a baby not to have the love and support or a nurturing family unit.

Devlin always gives us O’Henry twists in her novels. The reader will not be disappointed because she gives a couple of them in ABOUT SISTERLAND!

There is a wonderful section of topic questions at the back of the book that would be a wonderful aid to any book club choosing to read Devlin’s latest work entitled ABOUT SISTERLAND.
Simply put, when Martina Devlin writes a novel, it is for all the ages to come because there will be an interest in Devlin’s writings for many a millennia from now on!

Written on:
Sunday, 18 October 2015
Jack Paul “Joe” Crill
Canyon, Texas

[Kayleigh · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book to be incredibly annoying. I tried to take into account that the whole point of it was to show the effects of extremism and radical feminism, but I couldn't without feeling like there were some pretty dated ideas of what feminism is today. Wasn't a fan of how it perpetuated the ideas that women are obsessed with image and appearance and are ruled by emotions.
It was also far to slow and flat for me and I found the characters to be so dull. It only started to pick up a bit when a revolution was about to kick off, and that was maybe 2/3 of the way through it.
Normally I enjoy a good dystopian or feminist novel, but this was one big 'nope' for me and I didn't understand the hype

[Vera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting idea. Very extreme. It showed that no matter who comprises society ,there will always be the power hungry who use and abuse. The sheep : gullible or scared who follow. I just found the ending a disappointment. It seemed to move very quickly to the end point. And with no real indication of how it was going to happen.

[Margo Gorman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sisterland is dystopian world with women in control. This book is a great reminder that there is no feminism without a connection to social equality for all. The strong structure of the story offers us an insight into the structures of power.

[Eddie McClenaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absorbing dystopian take that is a bit scary to think of in how I can see something like this unfolding. Very well written and will do my best to read more of Martina's books now.

[Di Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book from the perspective of reading early feminist literature

[Ciara H · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting premise. It took me a very long time to finish it. I felt parts of the novel were disjointed and I found it very difficult to keep track of all of the characters.

[Caroline Price · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dystopian future where 9 women control everything from thoughts to emotions to breeding. Constance has been selected to breed and begins to question her existence..
Good but grim

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to review this book though it's an extremely gripping read that I couldn't put down.

It raises a lot of questions - touching on gender stereotypes and human nature.

Sisterland is a supposedly perfect country yet everyone is a sisterlander first and a human second. Emotions are buried and made by chemicals. Men are treated as slaves for manual labour and breeding with no free will yet zoos have been outlawed as it's cruel to keep animals.

Constance is an interesting character who blooms before your eyes as she discovers more about the world around her and begins to see things as they really are. She's also flawed, but not annoyingly so as some lead characters.

Harper is also a strong male lead who gives insight, both to Constance and the reader as to how flawed this so called perfect place is. He has your typical dream guy characteristics but at the same time he's blunt and forward speaking. Not afraid to show his emotions and share his thoughts in a suffocating regime. His strength towards the end of the books is especially heart-throb worthy.

[Soraya Bowie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Think you wanna live in a world ruled by women? Think again! Imagine having to go to something called a mating cube just so you can conceive a child? In this world its called Babyfuse.

If you have a baby boy you will never see them again once you've given birth. Have a baby girl and she stays with you for a year before being taken to girlplace to be raised by someone else, although after the first month you are allowed to visit often.

The story follows one of the girls living in sisterland and she is starting to learn that sisterland might not be as perfect as everyone would believe.....

[Sheenagh Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went through a phase of reading dystopian fiction focused on women. I read this, A Handmaid's Tale, The Power and Only Ever Yours. This one comes in a solid second place to A Handmaid's Tale.
This book is set in a world ruled by women (doesn't sound too bad right?)! We follow Constance who is set to mate with a man for the first time. Constance is faced with a male who isn't what she expected. Suddenly she begins to see the cracks in her society. Is it right thatt you cannot co-habit with a male? Is it right that you can simply buy bottled emotions? Or that they can be released to the general public? More importantly what happens in the world outside Sisterland??

[James Casserly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic novel. It is gripping and addictive. I read it over one night and the following morning. Couldn't put it down. It is compelling, sinister, chilling, yet in many ways reflects our society, not only where it is headed, but as it is now. This is the best novel I have read all year. I think Martina Devlin has written her masterpiece here, it is so well written, I felt like I was inside the story, and that doesn't happen very often for me. I cannot recommend this book enough.

[Snoakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who doesn't like a good dystopia? I enjoyed this one - it's an interesting take on extremism, depicting a world where women have taken over following a third world war. Men are subjugated, but women too are controlled. It's a good story which I enjoyed reading. It's not perfect though - after a nice slow build up the final third rattles off too quickly, with major events happening a little too easily. Entertaining and worth reading nonetheless.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read from the ever wonderful Martina Devlin, a fantastic new world created with just the right amount of sinister. Very thought provoking. Would definitely recommend

[Jennifer Mccann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this but it could have been so much better. It was very predictable, everything just fell into place all too easily.

[Liz Power · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confusing timeline. Good concept, poorly delivered.

[Deirdre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wider reading in the genre and a less rushed ending would have improved this

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captivating and moving, highly recommend