Calling on all you wonderful book lovers and avid readers!
I’ve had a memory of a story in my mind for a while now, and it’s driving me bonkers. I need your help figuring out what this could be!
I read a story for women’s studies class back in college, and here’s all I can piece together about it:
- It’s sci-fi / speculative fiction
- No idea if it’s a short story or if we read an excerpt from a full-length book
- The plot revolves around a society consisting only of women
- I think (maybe) men are allowed to live somewhere nearby, and there’s contact between the groups for reproductive purposes
- The women have telepathic/empathic abilities
- There’s something about a woman sitting up in a tree, using her telepathy to expand her consciouness outward in order to stand watch over the community
- Someone who uses her telepathy to invade another person’s thoughts is punished — maybe exiled?
- This would have been written no later than the early 1980s.
(I wondered if what I remembered might be connected to Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, but now that I’ve read Herland, I know it’s not.)
That’s about all I remember.
Any ideas?
Bookshelf Fantasies 
I wish I knew! I was thinking Herland at first, too.
It’s been driving me crazy… I wish I still had my old notebooks or the course syllabus.
I’ve got no idea but hope you find out what it is!
Thanks! It’s been driving me nuts trying to figure it out. 🙂
I thought Herland too… maybe The Chrysalids? I haven’t read it so I’m not sure how well it fits, but I think the characters in it has telepathic powers.
Thanks for the suggestion! I’ll look into it.
Okay, I just read a plot description for The Chrysalids — sounds interesting, but it’s not it. Thanks anyway!
There are websites that help you “find” lost books, have you tried that? (I haven’t used any in particular, just heard about them) I’d like to read this if you find out😁
I’ve made a small attempt so far — the website I had bookmarked for that purpose from a few years ago no longer exists, so I’ll need to keep digging. I fell down an internet rabbit hole of trying to find old college class syllabi, but had no luck. Haven’t given up yet!