Dalcher is not shy about calling out the problems in contemporary society. Whereas Atwood’s novel was contemplative and quietly simmering with its rage, Vox is a primal scream, and exactly the kind of novel we should all be paying attention to. More to the point, what can it tell us that we don’t already see all too often on news sites and social media? What can Dalcher’s book say that Handmaid’s Tale hasn’t already posited. So when I received an ARC of Vox in the mail, part of me was honestly expecting Handmaid’s Tale Lite. Reading and writing are prohibited, and words are treated by its protagonist Offred as rare delicacies. It portrays a world where women are purely reproductive machines. Published more than thirty years ago, and Vox’s clear literary predecessor, Handmaid’s Tale is a quietly disquieting tale of misogyny taken to the extreme. I remember how impactful Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale was when I read it for the first time. Considering that humans speak an average of 16,000 words a day, that’s a helluva cut. Dalcher’s premise is simple: women are given a quota of 100 words a day, and a wrist tracker delivers an electric shock for violations.
Voxwas a lot more powerful and disquieting than I expected it to be.
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