★文學作家喬伊斯．卡洛．奧茲(Joyce Carol Oates)盛情推薦
★《Tinfoil Butterfly》作者瑞秋．穆爾頓(Rachel Moulton)極力推薦

For fans of Emma Cline and Emily St. John Mandel, Westward Women is a breathtaking, prescient novel of speculative fiction set against the backdrop of rural Americana, destined to become an instant classic.

It starts with an itch. In homes all across America, women first feel a burning, itching sensation in their arms. They become tired and sluggish. And then they are compelled to walk West toward the Pacific Ocean. Abandoning their families, jobs, lives, they become shells of their former selves, all while doctors and scientists halfheartedly search for a cure that can’t be found.

Once they reach their destination, they aren’t heard from again.

Aimee has just graduated college when her best friend, Ginny, leaves. Ginny was always the daredevil to Aimee’s homebody, but now Aimee must decide between maintaining her safe life, or traversing the interstates to find Ginny. As her search leads to whispers of a man called The Piper, who helps the women travel West, she soon encounters more questions than answers.

Teenie’s symptoms are getting worse. Itchy and dazed, she can barely remember anything, staring out The Piper’s van windows as the country rolls by. The only thing she can remember with clarity is the last day she saw her sister, before she disappeared without a trace. You know. The way some girls just do.

When Eve hears a rumor about The Piper, she’s determined to chase him down. Everyone knows about the Westward Women, but actually hearing their stories? Identifying The Piper? It’s the scoop of a lifetime, the only thing that will put her journalist reputation back to rights.

As Aimee, Teenie, and Eve crisscross the country, their quests will put them on a collision course with heart-rending, devastating consequences.

A hypnotic, cataclysmic, and ultimately hopeful novel that spans 1970s America, Westward Women is the story of three ordinary yet unforgettable women in extraordinary circumstances.

 

Alice Martin holds a PhD in Literature from Rutgers University. She is 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.

 

"An audacious first novel to set beside Margaret Atwood." - Joyce Carol Oates

“Westward Women is a wholly original look at what it means to be female, itching with fear and promise and the desire to find your true self in the face of constant interference. Alice Martin writes with eloquence about an imaginary-yet-oh-so-familiar world where a mysterious illness overtakes the female population. Through the lens of three brave women, the question of who will understand and protect, turn away, or take advantage is explored in an epic road trip novel that is impossible to put down.”- Rachel Moulton, author of TinFoil Butterfly and The Volt Sisters