Book Review: Turning on the Girls

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Turning on the Girls     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Cheryl Benard
Class/Genre:   Fantasy
FSG, Mar 2001, $23.00, 312 pp.

Women rule the world. Borderline males who can be fixed are reeducated with counseling and medication. Die hard chauvinist pigs and similar non-repairable disorders are exiled to Zone Six.

A growing black market thrives with the selling of contraband consisting of the most dangerous element to society, romance novels. In the Ministry of Thought, Lisa searches for a permissible sexual fantasy so women will not regress back to the outlawed romantic urges of previous generations. To accomplish her mission, Lisa conducts research into the banned pornography of the past. With the help of her reeducated assistant Justin, they go underground, but soon find themselves in trouble in Zone Six from throwbacks of both genders.

1984, with a totally female dominated society, is the underlying foundation to this strong satirical futuristic tale. The story line hammers at everyone across the spectrum for excessiveness in personal agendas even as the plot acknowledges the recent gains by women in western society. Readers will enjoy TURNING ON THE GIRLS because the novel is humorous yet biting with no sacred icons allowed to escape the grip of the plot's teeth. Although the establishing of the setting requires patience, once the ride reaches the acme of the first incline, it is a swift no stop wild trip into social irony.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner