With echoes of Kafka and The Lord of the Flies, Charlotte Wood tells a bleakly disturbing yet empowering story about a group of women initially connected only by the presence of public scandal in their lives. Kidnapped, the women awaken from drug-induced states in the Australian Outback, far from civilization, where they are subjected to a horrific experience that forces them to be more primitive in order to break the bonds of their servitude.
With no idea how they arrived, the women discover their clothes are gone, replaced with canvas smocks, calico blouses and hard leather boots. Their male incarcerators, Boncer and Teddy, have taken their personal possessions and line the disoriented captives up to shave their heads. When the women have been deprived of everything, including their dignity and freedom, they are put to work building a road. At night, they sleep locked in cells reminiscent of dog kennels. But the supplies begin to dwindle and the electricity goes out on the compound. Soon the tide of power starts to shift. Women once concerned with social schedules and finery are fighting for survival, unearthing a feral strength no one ever expected.
Wood's raw and complex story delves into themes of friendship as two of the imprisoned form a strong yet unconventional bond through their survival efforts. It also depicts the tyranny of misogyny with the same coarse grit and degradation that scours women around the globe, while simultaneously spotlighting their courage and fortitude. Uncomfortably bold, The Natural Way of Things is an everywoman's hero tale. --Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts