Published October 4th, 2011 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
341 Pages // Hardcover
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Hannah Payne’s life has been devoted to church and family. But after she’s convicted of murder, she awakens to a nightmarish new life. She finds herself lying on a table in a bare room, covered only by a paper gown, with cameras broadcasting her every move to millions at home, for whom observing new Chromes—criminals whose skin color has been genetically altered to match the class of their crime—is a sinister form of entertainment. Hannah is a Red for the crime of murder. The victim, says the State of Texas, was her unborn child, and Hannah is determined to protect the identity of the father, a public figure with whom she shared a fierce and forbidden love.
A powerful reimagining of The Scarlet Letter, When She Woke is a timely fable about a stigmatized woman struggling to navigate an America of the not-too-distant future, where the line between church and state has been eradicated, and convicted felons are no longer imprisoned but chromed and released back into the population to survive as best they can. In seeking a path to safety in an alien and hostile world, Hannah unknowingly embarks on a journey of self-discovery that forces her to question the values she once held true and the righteousness of a country that politicizes faith and love.
I had heard about WHEN SHE WOKE for months before it came out. Even my mother had heard about the book through her book clubs and sources for information. And then what did I do? Well, I might have put off reading it… And put it off… And checked it out from the library… And put it off. Then I picked it up as my due date grew closer and closer. Once I started reading it, there was no stopping. By the end, this book flew onto my favorites shelf and I was desperate to tell the world about the amazingness I had just read.
