Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed (debut)
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Release Date: July 25, 2017
Length: 353 pages
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{A Bit of Backstory}

Single Sentence Summary

In a dystopian world, daughters of a cult finally rebel against the strict rules and controlled breeding programs laid down by the “ancestors.”

From the Publisher

” Years ago, just before the country was incinerated to wasteland, ten men and their families colonized an island off the coast. They built a radical society of ancestor worship, controlled breeding, and the strict rationing of knowledge and history. Only the Wanderers–chosen male descendants of the original ten–are allowed to cross to the wastelands, where they scavenge for detritus among the still-smoldering fires. The daughters of these men are wives-in-training.”

The Draw

• I was looking for something different and hadn’t read a dystopian novel in a long time.
• This one in particular sounded a little Handmaid’s Tale-ish, so that made it even more appealing.
• A story told from multiple perspectives always draws me in.

{My Thoughts}

What Worked For Me

A new and horrifying world – Gather the Daughters would not be the stunning book that it is without the bucolic, yet horrific society created by Jennie Melamed.

• Founded by the “ancestors” on an island off the coast of “the wastelands,” their followers live by a strict set of rules that most follow blindly.
• No one ever leaves the island except the ten wanderers who lead it.
• Until they reach puberty, daughters are often “visited” by their fathers at night.
• After a girl first bleeds, she has her summer of fruition, a bacchanalian ritual that leads to marriage.
• Children are allowed the freedom to run wild every summer. Those summers are the best part of life: loved by the children and remembered with longing by the adults.
• The “ancestors” prescribe all of life on the island.

“Amanda’s summer of fruition was Mother’s first step toward death. When Amanda had children, her parents only had until the wanderers deemed Father no longer useful, and then they would drink their final draft and be buried in the fields.”

Multiple perspectives – Gather the Daughters is a character driven story told from the perspectives of four courageous young women. Fifteen-year old Amanda, married and pregnant, quietly begins to question the ways of the ancestors. Vanessa at 13 has more knowledge than most girls. As the daughter of a wanderer, Vanessa has access to books. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Shy, quiet, outcast Caitlin witnesses something that goes against everything the ancestors have taught. And, 17-year old Janey? Amazing.

An emerging leader – Janey, lucky in that she has a father different than most, so wants to avoid the role prescribed to her by the ancestors that she’s been starving herself for years. Until she bleeds, there can be no summer of fruition.

“Janey is so thin that Vanessa wonders how she continues to breathe. Her body is graceful in its starvation, posed in arcs and wings of bone, her collarbone soaring upward against her skin like a loosed bird.”

At 17, Janey still enjoys the freedom of childhood summers. The younger girls look to her for comfort and guidance. Janey doesn’t set out to lead a revolt, but when fall arrives she can no longer turn a blind-eye to the lives, and deaths, of women on the island.

What Didn’t

Honestly, everything about Gather the Daughters worked for me, but cautions are in order. The culture on the island includes incest. The word is never used, nor is the incest ever described, but it’s clearly implied and key to the story. This might bother some readers. The summer of fruition some might also find offensive, though again, it goes toward building the story.

{The Final Assessment}

Gather the Daughters was the perfect book for me at the perfect time. I was looking for something different and Jennie Melamed’s debut more than delivered. From start to finish, I found the book to be creative, unexpected, and original. While not a complete surprise, the ending definitely satisfied. Melamed left me wanting more and that’s a very good thing! Grade: A

If you liked this book you might also enjoy:

• The Guineveres by Sarah Domet – A coming-of-age novel also taking place in an unknown time and featuring four young women struggling to change their lives. (my review)
• Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller – This is the story of a young girl and her father living alone in the woods, where things definitely aren’t quite right. (my review)
• The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine – Twelve sisters, forbidden to leave their home, escape each night to a speak-easy where they dance the night away.

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Associate links included within this post.