Earlier this week, I asked the bookish community to help me identify a book I only kinda, sorta remembered from my college days.
Lo and behold, the answer came not from another book blogger, but from my sister, who only occasionally checks out what I post about, but happened to see this particular post this week!
What can I say? Sisters rock.
Thank you to everyone who offered either suggestions or resources for further digging. I appreciate the input!
And now, for the big reveal…
The original query was for a book or story with the following elements:
- 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 (note: I was wrong about the reproduction part — must have been thinking of something else!)
- 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.
Based on my sister’s input, which I’m pretty certain is the right answer, the book I’ve been thinking of is:
The Wanderground by Sally Miller Gearhart
Originally published 1978
Synopsis (Goodreads):
In a world where girls can no longer wear pants, only skirts and hose; women’s Sunday softball is discontinued; shorter rest periods on the job exist so that women can’t socialize; and a ten o’clock curfew is created for increasing the protection for women – an exodus begins. This monumental move separates men and women, such that many women flee to the hills for freedom, while men remain in the cities.
Leading us through the women’s shared stories of survival, remembrance, and self-discovery, Wanderground brings us years later to a future, present with spiritual awakening. Here, the hill women have gained telepathic abilities, unique flying and healing techniques, and go on tours of duty to assist women in the cities still struggling for enlightenment.
According to Wikipedia, The Wanderground “is Gearhart’s first and most famous novel, and continues to be used in women’s studies classes as a characteristic example of the separatist feminism movement from the 1970s.” Bingo! Based on the Wikipedia details, I feel 99% sure that this is the book I was thinking of, although I still don’t know if I read the whole thing way back when or (more likely) an excerpt as part of a class syllabus.
This is so exciting! Trying to figure out this half-remembered book has been like an itch in my brain for a long time now. My library has a single copy available to request, and I’m looking forward to checking it out!
Thanks, once again, to the people who offered ideas, and a big THANK YOU (todah rabah!) to my sister!
Bookshelf Fantasies 