RED CLOCKS by Leni Zumas

Teenage girls who seek abortions are imprisoned, and abortionists face the death penalty.  This novel gives us a glimpse into the lives of four women in the not so distant future after Roe v. Wade has been overturned.  The characters are the wife (Susan), the biographer (Ro), the daughter (Mattie—no relation to Susan), and the mender (Gin).  A law school dropout, Susan loves her two small children but hates her life to the point that she contemplates driving off a cliff.  She would like a divorce, partly so that her husband can take the kids on weekends, but she does not want to initiate it.  Ro, on the other hand, envies Susan’s life and, at 42, is trying to have a child via artificial insemination.  She would settle for adoption, but as a single parent, her chances are slim, and soon such adoptions will be illegal.  Mattie is 16, herself adopted, and pregnant, and would like to have the fetus ripped from her body by any means possible.  Gin is a purveyor of herbal remedies and is Mattie’s biological mother, although Mattie is unaware of their relationship.  These women each command their own chapters, which are interleaved with the journal entries of a female arctic explorer—the subject of the biography that Ro is writing.  I did not grasp the significance of these interruptions, which I felt disturbed the continuity of the book.  Other than that, I loved it, especially the contrast between Ro’s and Susan’s lives.  Both are on the brink of total despair and want what the other has.  What I found so scary about this novel is how these women’s lives seemed pretty familiar, except for Gin’s, since she lives in a cabin in the woods.  Then the stark reality of how much these strict parenthood laws have cost them becomes apparent and extremely frightening.