Falling as She Sings by C.J. Sursum is a perfect book
for any lover of dystopian fiction. The premise of this book pulls readers in with a strong grip. Sursum’s novel is set in a future where women are the authoritative sex, living together in a private enclave; meanwhile, men are forced to fend for themselves outside enclave walls in the wild. Women are taught to view the male species as ferocious, immoral “brutes” who serve no purpose–aside from breeding. Life in the enclave is a sort of Utopian commune where life is simplistic and tranquil–for most, anyway.
For Menna, Domnina, and Odilia, the peaceful life of communal living slowly loses its appeal as the three women strike up unlikely and forbidden friendships with different “brutes” they have chance encounters with. Unanticipated attraction to the opposite sex, along with temptation to know more about the outside world, calls to these women in different ways. Readers experience the women’s struggles from three different points of view in the story. Is pure curiosity or loneliness enough to make you question your past and everything you’ve ever known? More importantly, is it enough to make you leave a safe haven that has always been your only home?
Sursum experiments with a variety of ideas about the sexes–mainly how men and women function with and without each other. While there are no obvious “Catholic” themes in this novel, the author hints that men and women, together in a partnership (marriage), are capable of bringing out each other’s strengths and virtues. The bottom line of the novel sings out clearly that neither sex wins when one has dominion over the other.
Falling as She Sings is available as a Kindle ebook.
Reviewed by Monica Eckert
Monica Eckert lives in New Berlin, Wisconsin and is a Catholic wife and mother. She loves to read and finds that she enjoys just about any genre, but Catholic fiction is among her favorite. When she’s not chasing after her two energetic little boys, she keeps busy by running the Elizabeth Ministry at her church and by working at a local family restaurant on the weekends.