S. F. Prescott

Dark speculative fiction with a compelling voice!

Alice Martin is a writer, reader, and teacher from North Carolina. She holds a PhD in Literature from Rutgers University and works as an Assistant Professor of English Studies at Western Carolina University, where she teaches fiction writing and American literature. She lives outside of Asheville, North Carolina with her husband, her son, and too many typewriters. Westward Women is her debut novel.

As soon as I read the synopsis I knew I’d love this book!

Martin’s voice pulled me in immediately, revealing an alternate 1970s American history angle, and interesting characters that weren’t necessarily likable, but that’s something I tend to enjoy in fiction. The multiple POVs added depth, intrigued me, and I found the details about the virus and its effect on the women unsettling as they made their way West. Including the focus on how women are seen in society and treated from a medical industry standpoint. There was a big emphasis around female relationships and perseverance that appealed to me also. The plot was very character-driven so the pace was on the slower side, but it didn’t take away any enjoyment from the book. Congrats to the author on an awesome debut!

Synopsis:

It starts with an itch.

In homes across the country, women ages eighteen to thirty-five begin to slow down.

Tired. Blank. Restless.

Drawn to the Pacific Ocean like it’s calling them home. They abandon their lives―jobs, families, their very selves. And once they reach the West, they vanish forever.

At the center of the story are three young women caught in the pull of something unstoppable.

Aimee follows the trail of her missing best friend to a man called the Piper―known for leading infected women West.

Teenie, afflicted and unraveling, clings to a single memory as she looks out the window of the Piper’s van.

And Eve, a former journalist, is chasing the story that might just consume her.

Each on the edge of transformation. Drawn toward the unknown. In search of a way forward.