The Power

Fiction & Poetry, Modern & Contemporary Fiction

Naomi Alderman (author)

Paperback Published on: 06/04/2017

£9.99

32 reviews

In stock
Usually dispatched within 2-3 working days

Make and edit your lists in your account

Check click & collect stock near you
Collect today: Pay in shop

View other formats and editions

Bookseller Reviews

View all

Best book I've read this year!

I picked up this book on a whim, just on the basis it was on the Baily's shortlist. I wasn't racing home to get the book read but the idea sounded intrigui... READ MORE

Charleigh at Scarborough

Intense gender-thriller

What would happen if women were suddenly much more powerful than men? Would women build a better world? The story follows a handful of characters playing ... READ MORE

Claudia Sunderhauf

A different future

One of my colleagues suggested that I read this book as they had really enjoyed it and I'm glad they did. Naomi has written a book that is full of great c... READ MORE

Samantha at Southend

Almost there!

Upon reading the synopsis, The Power seemed to be the female led revenge fantasy that we needed. For the most part, it was engaging and compelling- I read ... READ MORE

Shannon at Bath

Original and compelling!

*Thank you to Penguin Random House for the reading copy of this book!* I've never read anything like this before. Even though comparisons can certainly be... READ MORE

Kelly at Aberystwyth

WOOOW

I consider myself lucky for having picked up a lot of good books this year. But this one... I don't even know how to describe it. I didn't even want to fin... READ MORE

Diana O. at Aylesbury

Shocking, clever, feminist dystopian literature

An important and timely book that blew me away. A book that really makes you think about the status quo and the roles of women, not just here but across th... READ MORE

Abigail@PlymouthDrake

An astounding and thought provoking book!!

I enjoyed reading this book so much despite feeling uncomfortable in parts. It was so well written and so differently written that I couldn't stop thinkin... READ MORE

Kelly at Aviemore

A wickedly clever novel

Imagine an alternative world where women suddenly discover they have the power to inflict electric shocks through their fingers. What would happen to socie... READ MORE

Jane at Llandudno

This has ruined books for me

I should say in a good way. Now every time I read a book I'm waiting for the women to RISE UP so it's disappointing that it doesn't happen in every book. S... READ MORE

Fiona at Sunderland

Powerful exploration of gender and expected roles

Naomi Alderman’s novel ‘The Power’ is a well-deserved winner of the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction 2017. Naomi takes the idea of a change to which gend... READ MORE

Stephen B at Darlington

3.5 stars

*I received a review copy of this book for an honest review* This book was featured as the book of the month for the Feminist Book Club held at Waterstones... READ MORE

Eleanor at Piccadilly

One you won’t get out of your head

I read this book about 3 years ago & I’m still thinking about it.

Georgia Wilson

Synopsis

She throws her head back and pushes her chest forward and lets go a huge blast right into the centre of his body. The rivulets and streams of red scarring run across his chest and up around his throat. She'd put her hand on his heart and stopped him dead.

It starts with a tingling in the fingers, a feeling of focus, of a change in the rhythm of the world, a pricking of the thumbs.

Power is everywhere, it is under our feet, it circles around the cities and towns we have made our homes. We gather it and order it and make it flow from the centre outwards in a network like veins, pulsing with an electric heartbeat that keeps things functioning just as they always have. Yet power transfers and the time is coming for it to change hands.

What if the power to hurt were in women's hands?

Imagine a world where teenage girls awake one morning with extraordinary physical strength and power that outstrips their male counterparts. Thanks to a newly acquired section of muscle near their collarbone, young women can now conduct electricity like electric eels: inflicting pain or electrocuting to death as they wish. They can even waken this power in older women too. In Naomi Alderman’s The Power, the balance of the world is irrevocably altered overnight.

The novel weaves four central points of view; that of Margot, the ruthlessly ambitious member of American government; Roxy, the somewhat gullible daughter of a London gangster; Tunde, a young Nigerian man who documents the worldwide change known as Day of the Girls; and Allie, a teenage runaway who becomes revered as a deity; through their experiences, we witness the ways in which women utilise their newfound dominance.

This brave new world is far from a utopia however. As uprisings and revolts spread through the world and after the initial delight in female empowerment subsides, a darker side to the new world order emerges.

Exploring the concepts of gender, hierarchy and power, The Power is an ingenious and masterfully crafted piece of feminist science fiction as well as a searing indictment of our contemporary world.

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780670919963
Number of pages: 352
Weight: 248g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 21 mm

Customer Reviews

View all

A birthday gift

I was lucky enough to have been gifted this for my birthday (thanks Maria), I had desired it since before it won the baileys. Although it was originally pu... READ MORE

Fiona Sharp

A disturbing, yet thought-provoking read

I read this with a Waterstones Book Club, and it's not for the faint-hearted, because of the vicious cruelty, rape and murder throughout. But it is a deepl... READ MORE

Philip Davies

Powerful stuff

Following on from Margaret Atwoods revival of The Handmaid's Tale this superbly written and entertaining book fills a chasm nicely. Great holiday read.

Isabel Caplin

Breathtaking

One of those concepts that's so simple yet so mind-altering, you can't believe this is the first time anyone's done it. Teenage girls begin developing an ... READ MORE

Jill Prewett

Disappointed after all the hype

After a fairly interesting start, I found the book laboured and somewhat tortuous.

Pam Peers

Disappointing

Stretched my preparedness to suspend my disbelief. Not sufficiently engaging

Pam Peers

The Power

Well, this was a bit boring. I’m massively disappointed in The Power because I picked it up after Alderman won a tonne of awards, including the Bailey’s pr... READ MORE

Amber

Gripping and Engaging

I read this for my local book club and couldn't put it down until I was finished. Alderman presents us with a world where women find themselves in charge. ... READ MORE

Wassim

Electrifying

I love to recommend the Power to readers of Margaret Atwood who are looking for something new. The global flip of power into the hands of women through a n... READ MORE

Kate Millington

Intriguing premise...

This isn't the kind of book I would usually read, but it was chosen in my book club for August 2020, and I'm glad to have read it, although it's not going ... READ MORE

MHA

Good read

The storyline is a bit thin, but the writing is good.

Mike Fisher

Excellent read

I may be one of the few who came to Naomi Alderman via Zombies, Run! rather than via her incredibly popular debut. I knew coming in it would be brillian... READ MORE

Ash Carter

I disliked the style

From the synopsis I really thought I would enjoy this book but I ran out of steam barely a third of the way through it and couldn't be bothered to finish i... READ MORE

kendrafortune

So much fun

Such a fun read for me! Of course there were characters I grew to genuinely despise but I really liked the narrative in this book-- being able to follow se... READ MORE

holly can read

The Power

Bookseller Reviews

Synopsis

Customer Reviews

You may also like...