Our Shared Shelf discussion

Dear OSS,
We are very excited to share Naomi Alderman's answers to your questions! You can find these below.

Many thanks,
The OSS Moderators

Ashley & Kerry - Who or what was the voice in Allie/Eve's head representative of? Was it supposed to be God, a manifestation of Allie/Eve's subconscious thoughts and desires, or something else? Was Allie/Eve schizophrenic?

Marvin - please! what happened to Tunde? he made it out of the trunk ok right? At the end, did Roxy already know he was alive or did she just not know he was dead; when she was talking to her dad?

These are very good questions that I do not intend to answer in any way ;-). I like the idea that a novel leaves some questions in the reader's mind to ponder. And it is *definitely* not my place to tell my readers whether - when 'holy people' and preachers say they're hearing the voice of God - they are sincere, or mentally ill, or really hearing the voice of God, or lying. What do you think?



Ashley - A wide diversity of people were covered in this book through the various characters and interactions between characters. Why were some groups left out, such as trans or gender-fluid people? If you had included them, how would The Power have manifested in such groups?


In fact a huge diversity of people were left out. There are no scenes in Asia at all, for example, and no main characters who are Asian. There are only glancing references to South America. I came to the conclusion when writing the novel that either I was going to write a book that was literally a million pages long and tried to cover in some way every possible human experience related to gender (ie all of them) or I was going to need to pick a few examples of different lives affected by the power and rely on the reader to ask themselves: how would this change my life?

Sometimes when I'm giving a talk about the book, someone will ask me how I think the power would affect their community - eg a woman from Afghanistan asked me how it would have affected the Afghani people and culture. My answer is: I really don't know! And I always ask: how do you think it would? I did the reading and research about the worlds, cultures and experiences I wrote about in the novel and not about all the cultures and experiences in the world. I hope people read the novel and think for themselves about how it would affect them, I hope they write fanfic of it (that would be an honour!) that I can read and find out how it would affect the infinite variety of lives on the planet.


Mary - Hi Naomi. Did you study any real life matriarchal societies when researching for your book?


I did! I read and thought about Meghalaya in particular. But of course, the society in The Power is not a matriarchal society as we understand it today, it's one that's built on the same principles as our patriarchy, ie the ability to threaten and cause violent pain.



Gabriela - How does Naomi Alderman imagine an utopia?

Iain M Banks' The Culture novels.


Jessica - Question for Naomi: what is next on the horizon for you? What topics are swirling around your head these days?

I'm thinking a lot about fake news, right now. I feel like the amount and *quality* of convincing misinformation on the internet these days is a genuine apocalyptic threat to human civilization.



Anna - When I read 'The Power', one of the first things that struck me was the idea that something seismic could happen in society, causing a critical mass of women to finally stand up to men and put an end to the patriarchal way they had previously been subordinated. I read that, and I laughed, I thought, nothing like that will ever happen in my lifetime. Then the Weinstein scandal broke, and more and more women came forwards, and several months on, things really do seem to be moving forwards for women. Do you think the Weinstein scandal will be our tipping point? Will it be enough to bring about lasting change for women in the western world, and do you think this could also help women in other countries whose lives are far more affected by misogyny and sexism?

We are in the middle of a long road, and many women stand behind us who created seismic change already. Please do read Mary Wollstonecraft and bell hooks, Audre Lord and about the Suffragists. Understand that women have done this work again and again and again. Not so very long ago, women were not allowed an education, or to vote. Children were considered the property of the father and wives the property of their husbands. Marital rape was made a crime in the UK during my lifetime. Determined women changed that through the power of argument, debate and conviction. No single generation will finish all the work that needs to be done - there is so much, all around the world - but I hope every generation will push us forward a little. It's a project I am hugely proud to be part of, it is the centre of my life. My life is possible because of the work done by many thousands of women before me. I hope to hand on a little more liberty and justice to the generations that come after me.



Ross - Naomi, do you feel equality is a viable goal how would women and men best avoid the pitfalls of power shown so well in the book.

There will always be some inequality in the world. Why? Because human children are born very very small and powerless and dependent on larger adult caregivers. We come into the world unequal. A cruel or careless caregiver means that your life chances will be worse. No system has yet been devised better than letting parents raise their children though, so we have to accept that inequality is built into the system. What we can do is try to always be very open to hearing about the injustices of the world and correcting them insofaras we can. See the next answer for a link to an article with some thoughts.



Emma - How can we best combat gender stratification without causing a complete reversal in dominant gender roles (i.e. making all genders equal without the previously oppressed one the new dominant one)?

We can stop "leaning in" to the gender stratification that already exists. I put a few ideas here: https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...


Isha & Ozge - What was your inspiration behind choosing the title of the book? Does it signify that power in itself is a corrupting factor, no matter which gender chooses to wield it?

Fiona - My question is - you managed to write a novel that is quite rightly regarded as a feminist story. But in it, the women have the power and some of them behave badly, abusing their power. My personal interpretation of this was that it's not healthy to have a society where either gender is dominant, but that equality is what we all need. (I'm coming to the question....!) Is that your message, is that a correct interpretation and how do you think that you as a writer managed to convey that message?

I don't really believe in authors coming in to tell the "message" of their work. But I think you guys have understood me :-).


Giuseppina - Do you have advice for artists/writers about how to make the most of the opportunity of being mentored?

Don't be afraid to ask all your questions even (especially) the ones that seem stupid to you.


Pranav - Were you afraid about the acceptance of the novel by feminists?

I was pretty sure that smart people would understand what I was saying, and not come away thinking "why, this is a book about how women are evil!" ;-)

Thank you so much! 🌷

Awesome! Thanks to moderators for completing this and to Naomi for taking the time to answering our questions. I especially like that she is keeping some author trade secrets. Good on her.

Thank you for the answers. :-)
I just finished the book in french and it was really good.
We can never know what the human being is capable of when he gets the power. Wether you are a woman or a man.
And that is what i love about this book.

Great questions and great answers!
I loved The Power, advertised it among all my friends and after reading this Q&A will do this even more because obviously Ms. Alderman meant it exactly in the way i love books - to be thought provoking above everything else.

I got rejected in Art contests because I was drawing women!
I can’t play musical instruments at school reunions unless I wear school uniforms!
Also, I can’t join white Wednesdays women (aka enqelab street girls) ; the ones who stand up and wave their veils in the air in protest to forced hijab.
Because if I do so, they arrest me and torture me in prison, I might never be able to continue my education and my family will be in danger!
Please, if anyone else is reading this, help us through our protests, We need all of your supports❤️

Dear Naomi,
I keep hearing Mathematics is a boyish major and there will be no jobs for me if I continue!
Being a rebel, I chose to study mathematics.
Have you ever faced such a thing?
What should our response be?

Fascinating book and I agree with the author - so interesting to leave a few questions unanswered and open to interpretation of the reader. Great Q&A!

I enjoyed this book very much. Thanks Naomi for writing it.

There is a general idea underlying the whole story which I am not sure I completely agree with: the idea that patriarchy and violence against women is based on an essential biological difference between men and women.

What do you think about this?

Thanks!

Celia