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When She Woke
When She Woke
When She Woke
Audiobook10 hours

When She Woke

Written by Hillary Jordan

Narrated by Heather Corrigan

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

Hannah Payne awakens to a nightmare. She is lying on a table in a bare room, covered only by a paper gown, with cameras broadcasting her every move to millions at home. She is now a convicted criminal, and her skin color has been genetically altered. Her crime, according to the State of Texas: the murder of her unborn child, whose father she refuses to name. Her color: red. The color of newly shed blood.  In Hannah's America, sometime in the future, faith, love, and sexuality have fallen prey to politics. Convicted felons are no longer imprisoned and rehabilitated, but “chromed,” forced to appear in a new and sinister form of reality TV, and released back into the population. Stigmatized in a hostile world, they must survive the best they can.  Until her arrest, Hannah had devoted her life to church and family. In seeking a path to safety, she is forced to question the values she once held true and the righteousness of a country that politicizes the personal.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 4, 2011
ISBN9781611745719
When She Woke
Author

Hillary Jordan

Hillary Jordan spent fifteen years working as an advertising copywriter before starting to write fiction. Her first novel, Mudbound, was named one of the Top Ten Debut Novels of the Decade by PASTE magazine. It won the 2006 Bellwether Prize, founded by Barbara Kingsolver and awarded biennially to an unpublished debut novel that addresses issues of social justice. Hillary grew up in Dallas, Texas and Muskogee, Oklahoma. She lives in Brooklyn. hillaryjordan.com

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Rating: 3.7642558514603617 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    When She Woke is a dystopian themed adult fiction inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. And like Hawthorne's book, the main character, Hannah Payne, is publicly condemned and ostracized for her perceived crime and forced to wear scarlet as a badge of shame, yet refuses to name the man responsible for her pregnancy. When She Woke also explores similar themes of religion, adultery, and criminality as did The Scarlet Letter.

    After being convicted of murdering her unborn child, Hannah goes through a process called melachroming which entails a convicted criminal having their skin color altered to announce the type of crime they committed. She wakes to find herself in a solitary room with only a shower, sleeping platform, and a camera in the wall that will, for her first thirty days as a “Chrome,” monitor and broadcast her every move to the entire world.

    The dystopian society was one of extreme religious conservatism. The one aspect of this society that almost didn't fit for me was that in such an extremely Puritanical society, would they really rely so heavily on technology? Other than that, imagining a society built on the tenets of such extreme fundamentalistic Christian beliefs was downright frightening. Hannah was forced to contend with her guilt over making choices that not only went against every principal she had been taught to believe in her strict evangelical upbringing, but also put her in the untenable position of losing her friends, family, reputation, and possibly her own life. She struggled to reconcile her actions with her religious beliefs and wondered if she would ever feel a connection to God again.

    I found When She Woke to be extremely thought provoking. The idea of melachroming intrigued me. There is some part of me that is not fully convinced that this is such a bad idea as it would effectively punish the criminal through public humiliation yet save the state the expense of housing all but the most violent offenders. In the book, there was a lower life expectancy for some crimes or “colors” such as Red (murderers) and Greens (Child Molesters) while those convicted of less serious crimes (Yellows) were less feared and hated but still ostracized. Right or wrong, it was certainly a fascinating concept to consider.

    With all of the heavy and thought provoking themes in When She Woke, it still managed to be an exciting and engaging read. I devoured this book in just one day, unable to put it down. I knew before the first hundred pages that I wouldn't be getting any sleep that night until I finished it. It sinks its hooks in early and never lets go as it takes you on an action packed and emotionally stirring journey. When She Woke takes a fairly clear stance on the topic of abortion, however, I don't believe it was presented in such a biased way that those who differ in their beliefs would be unable to enjoy it. When She Woke tackles some pretty controversial and socially relevant subject matter from a passionately feminist perspective and this may be off-putting for some readers but I found it to be an inspiring story about the struggle from oppression to empowerment. This will definitely be shelved with my all time favorites. I would recommend this to fans of dystopian themed fiction, those who enjoyed the Handmaids Tale or The Scarlet Letter, and those who enjoy fiction that focuses on socially relevant issues.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Even though I have not read The Scarlet Letter yet, it is fairly obvious that When She Woke is the retelling of that story in futuristic terms. In a time where church has more authority than government or people – people who have committed crimes are now chromed (have their skin color changed based off their crime). The book gripped my attention quickly but, unfortunately, seemed to go down hill as the story continued. The characters did little for me – even the main character meant very little to me and cared little about what happened to her. In fact, my interest was more in it's secondary characters (Hannah's Dad, sister, Kayla, Simone, etc) and Hannah's devotion to Aiden through most of it was a bit annoying for me given the circumstances. In the end, this book is about making one's own choices and freewill even if it's against the social norm of the time. It was just an ok read for me. There is definitely slant towards pro-choice and some extreme religion so this book may not be for everyone.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book hits very close to home, though our circumstances are very different and the characters choice to side with getting it done and mine was forced. I had many flash backs while reading this book. Very painful but also healing.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This sci-fi dystopian "Scarlet Letter" redux was so compulsively readable that I had to hide it from myself so I could get some homework done. While this book wasn't totally perfect, I can't be too critical of it because I found it so addicting.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Readers of my reviews know that I love a good dystopia, so When She Woke did not disappoint. I felt echoes of The Handmaid's Tale as the novel drew to a close, which is fantastic to me. I love Margaret Atwood.The idea of people being so publicly punished for their crimes was fascinating, and I thought it added a whole new dimension to the reimagining of The Scarlet Letter.The segment that takes place in the church/ safe house was really interesting, because it had echoes of Evangelicalism in the teachings, yet taken to the extreme. That really drew me in.Overall, this was quite a good read, and I enjoyed it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I almost didn't read this book because of the many terrible reviews written about it, but I'm glad I did.

    The story is fast paced, and interesting. The religion aspect of it put a lot of readers off but I found that it really added to the story and the dystopian world within it.

    The idea of chroming was such an intriguing idea, and the journey Hannah took was inspiring and ultimately the right path for her.

    A lot of complex issues are explored in this book like abortion and it does make you question the previous beliefs you had.

    A good book that interested me but I wouldn't read it again.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I found the book to be a page-turner and imaginative in some ways, but it also seemed juvenile and clumsy and unoriginal in other ways. A pretty good YA book I guess. People have compared it to Margaret Atwood's "Handmaid's Tale" - I read that a long time ago, but I remember liking it a lot and I'm guessing it was a much better book. The other obvious influence is the Scarlet Letter, but I don't see exactly why it's so great to have a sort of sci-fi remake of the Scarlet Letter. But I do have to admit there was definitely some writing skill in the page-turniness of the book. I really wanted to see what would happen and I never seriously thought about bailing out on the book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I was wondering what all the hubbub was about surrounding this book when I picked it up, and it turns out that it was totally worth all the noise people are making about it. Not to mention, it is deliciously controversial. I can imagine certain groups of readers are having hissy fits and becoming very angry while reading this book because it challenges some core beliefs about religion, autonomy, and womanhood. It also tackles topics like race, class, and LGBT issues rather smartly and without being condescending, which is also a plus in our current reading environment where people think The Help is a legitimate novel about fighting racism and not just another feel-good 'selfless white girl fights for the helpless black folk' fairy tale.

    Having been recently burnt out on YA dystopian novels, it's nice to see an adult novel tackle the dystopian genre and do it well, with excellent world-building and storytelling skills to boot. It took me a chapter or two to properly get into the story, but the first-person narrative style that put me off initially ended up becoming a major factor in my enjoyment of the story. Some of the plot lines seem rushed, and I would have loved to spend more time in the Chrome shelter just because it was an absolutely fascinating place to visit, but overall it is an effective and chilling read.

    So glad I checked this out on a whim at the library; I hope to read Hillary Jordan's debut novel before the year is out.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Dystopian Thriller that I didn't think I would enjoy at first, but once I got into it, I could't put it down.

    In Jordan's tale, Abortion has been outlawed in America ( or most states) and the crime is punishable by being "Chromed" to have one skin turn a different color. People are Chromed based on their crime ( Blue/Purple, Red and Yellow) in a future scarlet letter idea.

    Hannah is now red after getting an abortion and refusing to name the father or the doctor. The story follows her life as she adjusts to a new life in what is my opinion a pretty scary world.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really enjoyed most of this modern take on The Scarlet Letter, with echoes of The Handmaid's Tale. The protagonist has been punished for having an abortion: she's been dyed red so all can see she's a murderess. Jordan slowly reveals with whom the baby was conceived, and he is of course the most taboo lover imaginable in this hyper-fundamentalist society. The adventure is thrilling, but ends too soon, in the sense that I wish Jordan had given her heroine another 50-100 pages to grow and learn, instead of improbably having her cram a lifetime of life-changing experiences into a few brief days. Nonetheless, this is a worthwhile take on the evolution of a girl's stance on abortion and women's rights.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Author's interesting take on Hawthorne's [The Scarlet Letter] set in a dystopian future not too far off. Theme of racism symbolized by "chroming": those who break the law forced to undergo skin color change, certain colors representing certain crimes. Strange book, but compelling.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I have a thing for dystopian novels but this novel blew me away. The setting is at times so scarily realistic and and at other times so creatively futuristic. I love the parallelism to The Scarlet Letter (even though I was never a fan of this book when I read it in high school). I wish the ending had given the reader more but I'm thankful to walk away feeling invested enough in these characters to care what happens next. Now I want to read Jordan's debut novel Mudbound.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Best book of the year? It's early yet, but I'm pretty confident that is a YES.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Scarlet Letter mixed with A Handmaid's Tale
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    When She Woke by Hillary Jordan is a powerful and so incredibly plausible dystopian story for adults that takes place in a United States where prisons have been abolished in favor a society where people wear their crimes in the shade of their skin. I was entranced by this novel that is a clever futuristic retelling of The Scarlet Letter where megachurches rule and one girl wears her sin in the bright red of her skin, and being trapped in a body turned red might just be what sets her free.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Reminded me in some ways of The Handmaids Tale. I would be interested in a sequel!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    When She Woke, tells the story of a stigmatized woman struggling to navigate an America of a not-too-distant future, where the line between church and state has been eradicated and convicted felons are no longer imprisoned and rehabilitated but chromed?their skin color is genetically altered to match the class of their crimes?and then released back into the population to survive as best they can. Hannah is a Red; her crime is murder. In seeking a path to safety in an alien and hostile world, Hannah unknowingly embarks on a path of self-discovery that forces her to question the values she once held true and the righteousness of a country that politicizes faith. (summary from ISBN 1616201932)This book has an interesting premise, but the pace was slow and I found it hard to care about any of the characters.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    An arresting premise for a book, and it held my interest until the end. But the writing is hit-and-miss--downright clunky in some spots--and some of Hannah's actions near the end made me so frustrated with her I almost stopped reading. Interesting, worth a look, but Jordan can't quite pull off what Atwood managed with A Handmaid's Tale.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really wanted to give 3.5 stars. The opening was a WOW! It grabbed me from the first line. Unfortunately, it lost momentum for me towards the end. I feel like some story lines just ended instead of being closed, and it was anticlimactic as well. I wanted more from such a great beginning. However it was still an enjoyable read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was the inaugural selection for my book club, and all in all it was a great read. I'm a relative novice when it comes to book clubs, and this is the first one that I've ever started. We threw a bunch of books into a hat, and this was the randomly selected choice.

    Just reading the book blurb had me intrigued by the story. "When She Woke" is an obvious dystopian bastardization of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter." While I'm familiar with the books premise, I have not read it. It is on my "Bucket List"of books to read.

    I bought the book the very next day, and I eagerly began reading it as soon as I got home. I found my excitement quickly turning to dismay, and then anger as I read. So many political hot button issues within so few pages. After a while I honestly wasn't sure what I was feeling anymore.

    I probably read the first quarter of it within a few hours, but while I was interested in the story, I found that it was getting a little slow. Slow enough that I found myself putting it down more and more, and each break became longer and longer. Eventually, I did not pick it up again. Next thing you know, the next club meeting was around the corner. I forced myself to pick it up again, and was ready to use the "how to get through a difficult read formula" to get it finished in time for the discussion. I gamely plugged on for another chapter or two, and like someone cast a spell, I was suddenly hooked again. The plot and pace of the book picked up, and began speeding towards it unpredictable ending.

    At times I found myself just kind of stunned by a certain turn in the story, and I was saddened when I reached the last page. Like many stories, I truly want to know what comes next. I would have given the book a good rating if no other reason than my reaction to it. I have to admire anything that causes the gamut of emotions that this book did within me. Based on this alone, I would be predisposed to reading another title from Hillary Jordan. In fact I find myself eager to do so.

    I find myself eager for the upcoming discussion about this book. I'm also looking forward to whatever our book club chooses for its next selection. If it's even half as good as this was I'll be satisfied.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I reread this for book club, and three years later, I've given it a higher rating. I guess I can't help comparing it to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, which for me was brilliant, as is everything she writes, But rereading this story, I appreciated the how well the storyline held together, and how believable was the notion of using skin color to brand "criminals" to avoid the expense of incarceration. I think our heroine, Hannah Payne, is a surprisingly strong person, given who she was at the beginning of the story, a gently educated, very sheltered seamstress from an evangelical religious background. The first surprising thing is how such a meek woman can have the strength to keep the name of her famous lover a secret, even though it makes her a pariah. After she is Chromed bright red, she slowly finds strength, first by escaping a sadistic "half-way" home for wayward women who've had abortions, then by joining with freedom-fighters and escaping her situation to find freedom elsewhere. It's a solid story, not quite "un-put-downable" for me, but very good.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The "Scarlet Letter" with a dystopian twist, this novel takes place in a United States that experienced a nuclear attack (goodbye L.A.), a plague that rendered women sterile and abortion illegal, a blended church and state, and a new way to punish criminals--melachroming. As a murderer, Hannah Payne is dyed a bright red for aborting her child.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
    2 stars (tears streaming down my eyes, figuratively speaking, since I liked Mudbound so much better)

    Perhaps I have read too many dystopian novels, perhaps I was expecting something much different with character development, but by half way through this book I was no longer enjoying it even though I wanted to read it and see what happened, not just because of this challenge I was doing at the time.

    Hannah Payne, single, wakes up red as part of her punishment for having an abortion, her sentence lengthened for refusing to name the father, a married pastor, or the person who gave her the abortion. The other part of her punishment includes a month in solitary confinement, her every moment caught on video tape unless she is sleeping when it is dark; even the bathroom is behind glass. All but her time in the bathroom is streamed live to the world. She has been sentenced to live 16 years as a Chrome, red for the violence associated with her crime. Red is for manslaughter or second degree murder. There are yellow, blue and green chromes as well. After her thirty days are up, she is released to fend for herself, only needing to stay in her home state and to show up every four months for a new injection of the gene altering virus.

    Like all dystopian novels, the premise and set up is hyperbolic; it's not that cruelty to the degree you see doesn't exist in the real world, but to make a point, things are always moved beyond what would actually happened to make a point. Like most dystopian novels, the science is not completely valid, but serves the purpose of the novel. It is neither of these things that gave me such grave disappointment after a good start and even though as improbable as it seemed, I liked and was able to empathize with Hannah in many ways.

    I gave this overnight and much of today to mull over just what it was that disappointed me so much; I knew much of it, but to step back and figure out why, despite so many unlikable characters mixed in with the likable ones, I liked Mudbound so much better.

    First, Hillary Jordan is good at fleshing out the POV people, but not very good at most of the non POV characters, particularly in this book. So many of them were very two dimensional and poorly drawn out stereotypes, and I mean throughout the book. Even though there are obvious tie-ins to A Scarlet Letter, which I liked much, much better, I often was reminded of Margaret Atwood's novels, particularly A Handmaid's Tale, despite the different plot, primarily the disappointment I usually feel with how Atwood draws characters and the frequent detachment you feel, even though that's not exactly what I felt here.

    Secondly, Jordan is good at showing us the thoughts and emotions of the POV characters, but not as good at portraying philosophies or religions; on all sides of it I was egregiously disappointed as they all felt stereotyped and worn out, and even in books where I have disagreed with all of them, I have found them better fleshed out.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Hannah is red. A Red. Red for murder. Her skin has been tinted for the crime she has committed. For in When She Woke‘s dystopian America, abortion is a crime.

    It is a dramatic, movie-like, opening.

    “When she woke, she was red. Not flushed, not sunburned, but the solid, declarative red of a stop sign.

    She saw her hands first. She held them in front of her eyes, squinting up at them. For a few seconds, shadowed by her eyelashes and backlit by the hard white light emanating from the ceiling, they appeared black. Then her eyes adjusted, and the illusion faded. She examined the backs, the palms. They floated above her, as starkly alien as starfish.”

    Hannah spends thirty days in the Chrome ward, after which she has to figure out how to survive in the outside world. For she has to live as a Red for 16 years – her sentenced extended thanks to her refusal to name both the father of her child (a public figure, a married man, a forbidden love) and the abortionist. And Chromes (also Yellows, Greens, Blues depending on their crime) live on the fringes, in ghettos, and are closely monitored and easily tracked by anyone. It is especially terrifying for Hannah, whose life had been devoted to her faith and family, whose 26 years have been sheltered and closed.

    Things go downhill (if that’s possible) when she checks into a halfway home which is all about repentance and prayers and crappy food. Hannah later meets a pro-choice group and, well, a variety of things happen but let’s leave it at that.

    I constantly thought of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale as I read this. And if I had actually read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, I would have figured out that Hester Prynne = Jordan’s Hannah Payne (note to self: read The Scarlet Letter!).

    However, while When She Woke has a startling, fascinating beginning and setting, once in the outside world, Hannah meets some cliched, others wooden, characters. Hannah herself, well, she is a bit of a mystery to me. The change we see in her, at first meek and obedient, then strong and determined, is huge especially in such little time, but I wanted more (my expectations for fictional characters are remarkably high). I wanted her not to have done that silly thing she did towards the end, but I guess we all have frailties.

    I liked this book. I think I wanted to love it, as I loved The Handmaid’s Tale. However, I am still pretty interested in reading Jordan’s first book, Mudbound, which I’ve heard plenty of good about.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In a not-so-distant future where America has changed its moral fiber, Hannah Payne wakes in a cell. She has been raised in a Christian household, and lived her life according to the principles of her faith. However, when she found herself pregnant and unmarried she decided to have an abortion, and having broken the law she’s been convicted of murdering her child. Crowded prisons have spurred science to come up with a different solution. Criminals are genetically altered – chromed – so that their skin pigment is a bright unnatural hue which signifies their crime. Hannah is a Red, and after a brief 30-day stay to ensure she is used to her condition, she will be released to live in society as a marked woman ... or try to. She will not name the abortionist or the father, and so she is facing a 16-year sentence of this underworld existence.

    This is a vivid reimagining of The Scarlet Letter. Jordan has created a world that is all too recognizable and believable, though the reader hopes it will never come to that. There is a great deal of discussion on sin, suffering, faith, punishment and redemption; the Right to Life vs Right to Choose battle is central to the plot as well. Hannah struggles with what she has always assumed was the true path, opening her mind to consider alternate views and finding an inner strength. I was completely caught up in the story and could not put this down. However, I was somewhat dismayed at how long Hannah clung to the idea of the “perfect” love she had with the father of her child; I wanted to yell “Wake up!” for much of the second half of the book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I was recommended this book by a person on the LA Sony Readers VIP trip before we chatted with Michael Connelly. I am glad I picked it up. I am not a huge fan of dystopian fiction or religious issues fiction but this book didn't make either subject too overwhelming.

    I enjoyed the story and I loved how the author easily made the reader feel uncomfortable with such minute precision. The concept is genius and I enjoyed growing up with Hannah. I would also like to say, I really hated Aiden...I know, I know...it's not his fault but...I hate him.

    Anyway, this is a great book and if you like dystopian or twists on classic lit this one is for you.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book took me by complete surprise. To the point that I was engrossed in the last 100 or so pages and could not leave my place at the breakfast table until after 10am. I did not mean to finish this book so quickly. In fact, I had every intention of returning it to the library. "It's really good," I said, after the first 20 pages. "But I just don't think I'm...up for it." I wasn't up for a "Handmaid's Tale" type allegory of a dystopian Christian Right Future. It would be too distressing. So I left it in the bathroom. Thinking bathroom-length increments would be best. At least until I could get back to the library on Thursday.

    And then it took me over.

    There are a lot of things for me to be wary of in a book like this. Firstly, my own so-called "liberal" ideas about abortion, the penal system, etc. This is one of those books that has the potential to play too hard to people like me, creating a sense of smug self-satisfaction that might allow me to just see myself mirrored, as opposed to engaging with the narrative. This leads to the other problem. I don't like books about politics. Not even books about politics I agree with. Not as a rule. Because I know what those books are about.

    But Jordan avoids any such dogma, any such easy answers as "Abortion is always the best choice for any woman" and "Christians are always the enemy of civil rights". She does this by creating a story I did not expect, in many ways. The Scarlet Letter structure is a loose one, one of association more than anything else, one of images. This is no mere retelling. This is no reductive allegory or cautionary political tale. This is the story of a woman, of prisons and boxes of all kinds, of a human asserting her own "right to life".

    Hannah's journey is compelling, the supporting characters engaging and surprising, and the book is paced and structured very much like a thriller, without dragging me through its garden on a leash.

    Recommended for fans of "women's" and "literary" and "science" fiction alike.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was a mixed bag for me - I enjoyed the premise of a dystopian future that represented evangelical conservatism and anti-feminism run amok, but the message was a bit too obvious for me. The plot also wandered and included too many different threads.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    What an amazingly unique story. I loved it. Many social issues are addressed and I found them interesting, although it invoked anger in me at how Hannah was treated! I hope our world will never come to this! Damn scary in my opinion.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An interesting novel that had the tint of The Scarlet Letter. Actually, it has the concept tied in it a few times, but boy was this one winding story. This sort of book got me thinking, no doubt. It had me thinking of, wow, could this actually happen in the world? If so, I would definitely want to be out before then. I personally enjoyed the story and the main character, whom was now considered a murderer after she had an abortion. Abortion is one sensitive topic, but the book was good no less with the struggles of the young woman, Hannah. I thought this book would bring up debate. Who knows, maybe book club readers could debate about it and distribute their ideas and thoughts thoroughly since the theme and story hits so close to home with the United States and their concerns about abortion.