The Power

Article written by Emma Baldwin

B.A. in English, B.F.A. in Fine Art, and B.A. in Art Histories from East Carolina University.

The Power envisions a world in which all women worldwide are suddenly capable of wielding incredible Power at their fingertips. This immediately shifts the power dynamic, placing women in a position of dominance never seen throughout human history. The novel takes place across multiple settings, from Alabama to Moldova (the latter is remade into Bessapara), and features a wide variety of female characters, many of whom rise up from lives marred by abuse and oppression.

Key Facts about The Power

• Title: The Power
• When/where written: London, 2012-2016
• Published: October 2016
• Literary Period: Contemporary
• Genre: Novel / Speculative Fiction / Science Fiction
• Point-of-View: Third-person
• Setting: London, Alabama, New England, Nigeria, and Bessapara.
• Climax: Allie calling on the women of the world to start a global war.
• Antagonist: Power

Naomi Alderman and The Power

Naomi Alderman’s The Power was the novel that made her a household name, partially among those interested in the latest dystopian fiction. Before its publication, she had written four books, all of which were outside the dystopian genre.

But, her interest in female narratives was clear within her first novel, Disobedience, published in 2006. It is thought to have been inspired by the author’s orthodox Jewish community from her youth. It tells the story of a North London rabbi’s bisexual daughter, Ronit Krushka, and her life in New York.

She also published The Liars’ Gospel and The Lessons before The Power. The novel is influenced by Alderman’s time working in a mentorship program with Canadian author Margaret Atwood. (The author also dedicated her novel to Atwood.) She’s received numerous awards for the novel, such as the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Orange Award for New Writers. The book is currently being turned into a television series as well. 

Books Related to The Power

Alderman’s The Power takes its inspiration from genres of science fiction and feminist literature. Contemporary combinations of the two, such as in Margaret Atwood’s oeuvre, are incredibly popular today. Alderman’s novel has been, and continues to be, compared favorably to The Handmaid’s Tale and other Atwood books like The Heart Goes Last and Oryx & Crake. Her novel also relates to science fiction classics like The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin and The Female Man by Joanna Russ, published in 1975. The latter is perhaps the lesser-known of the two.

It challenges female identity through its focus on four women in parallel universes. They visit one another’s worlds and are surprised by the different views on gender roles. The novel ends with all four women realizing they are versions of the same woman.

Readers are also likely to find themselves unable to resist drawing comparisons between The Power and classics of the dystopian fiction genre, like Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange, George Orwell’s 1984, and other novels like Brave New World and We.

More recently, the novel should be considered alongside books like Future Home of the Living God by Louis Erdrich. Erdrich’s ground-breaking depiction of future society has women at the center of the plot and details a cataclysmic event that overthrows everyone’s perceptions of society.

The Lasting Impact of The Power