Deep underground, thirty-nine women are kept in isolation in a cage. Above ground, a world awaits. Has it been abandoned? Devastated by a virus?
Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only vague recollection of their lives before. But, as the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl - the fortieth prisoner - sits alone and outcast in the corner.
Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground. The woman who will never know men.
Staff Choice: Matty
Utterly mysterious, devastating and thought provoking; I could not stop thinking about this strange and effecting book for months after I first read it. Unfortunately it's difficult to tell you much about it without spoilering you in a most heinous way, but let me have a very careful try.
The basic outline at the start is from the perspective of a young girl who is trapped in a underground cage with 39 other women, guarded by men who never speak or look at them. None of them know how they got there or why they're being held. It's written by a Belgian woman who fled the holocaust which has doubtlessly influenced the story.
Covering humanity, community and what makes us who we are, this tiny book has an enormous weight. Unforgettable.
Staff Choice: Bruna
This book caught me by surprise, I could not put it down and I still think about it from time to time.
The story is very character driven but at the same time has a very intriguing plot. We follow a girl and 39 women trapped in a cage, but we don't know why and even where they are. The book focus a lot on what it means to be human and coming from an Jewish author who escaped the holocaust this story gains an even bigger weight and meaning. How alien is an world that wants to strip you from you humanity and from everything that you think makes you human.
I also really like the themes of the search for knowledge and the importance of being curious, especially when the protagonist is called "the child", even when she is grown. As a child we can always see the world with bright eyes and an open mind.
It is a hopeful, melancholic and unforgettable book, with relevant themes and great pace. A modern classic in my opinion.
Staff Choice: Else
I have to blame my colleague Matty for this one, she has been raving about this book for months and it really made me want to read it. And I have to admit… WOW, just WOW. I don’t want to spoil too much about this book, because you just have to read it to experience it in my opinion. It is bleak, mind-boggling and you just want to finish it in a single day. It makes you question yourself, what is going on and how humans are able to treat each other in horrible ways. Do not read this if you want some light, fun reading, but please do read it, because it is sooo good.