Debut author Alexandra Duncan portrays a patriarchal civilization eerily reminiscent of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.
The Earth is tainted--if a woman were to step onto its surface, its filth would contaminate her spirit and body. The people of the merchant ship Parastrata left the planet 1,000 years ago, and only the men periodically return to Earth to trade. Even as the eldest daughter of the ship's captain, 16-year-old Ava lives a life of subservience and duty. But after she learns a few "Fixes" from her friend Soli on the ship Æther, she realizes she'd rather expand her mind than tend to livestock and laundry. Her intellect is well-suited to problem-solving, but her father forbids it. "It's only a step from fixing to flying," he tells her. "You can't nurse a baby and run a navigation program at the same time." An arranged marriage to seal a connection with Æther gives Ava hope for change. Perhaps on this more enlightened ship she can learn to read and work on Fixes. But a premarital act of intimacy threatens Ava's safety and future. Her aunt takes drastic measures to dispatch Ava to Earth, and sets in motion a journey of self-discovery. Ava must confront long-held secrets in order to discover the truth behind her family and civilization, and then to figure out what she really wants.
Duncan's fast-paced narrative and original settings--from the Parastrata to the Gyre (a floating garbage mass in the Pacific) to Mumbai--will keep readers riveted. --Jessica Bushore, former public librarian and freelance writer