THE POWER by NAOMI ALDERMAN (2016, 2017 in US)

Imagine a world thousands of years in the future when women have all the Power -- not figuratively, but literally. Naomi Alderman gives her female characters a skein across the collarbone which develops first in teenage girls. They suddenly have the ability to deliver electric shock, even to the point of death for the recipient. Everything turns upside down. No more men raping women. No more husbands beating wives. No more female oppression. The deity becomes a She instead of a He.

If you imagine that the world becomes a kinder, gentler place because men are no longer in control, you would be wrong. In Alderman's world, having power changes people. Female armies are formed; in some countries, all men are required to live under the rule of a female guardian; rapes still happen, but with the roles reversed.

The novel focuses on four characters: Allie is a physically and sexually abused foster child who becomes the prophetess of the new order of religion; Roxy is an illegitimate daughter who claims her birthright as the head of a crime syndicate; Margot is an adult aspiring politician who secretly hides her own Power, as taught to her by her teenage daughter; Tunde is a Nigerian boy who almost accidentally becomes the principal photographer and chronicler of the new world order. Framing the entire story are fawning letters from a fictional (male) author thousands of years in the future, when the book is supposedly written, to a (female) colleague, asking her critique of his imagined history of what happened in the past when women assumed control over men. (She expresses doubts that men were ever in control, due to their more peaceful nature.)

The fictional author's plot begins in roughly our present time so it is obviously a critical look at the evils of male domination today, but it is much more than a feminist complaint. The unexpected plot developments lead to a much broader examination of human nature in general. Also unexpected, this novel is often slyly humorous -- not preachy at all. The ending is stellar.

This is not the most important 2017 book I have read (That would be Sing, Unburied, Sing.), but it is the most enjoyable to read. It was named as a Top 10 Book pf 2017 by many US publications, including the New York Times. I highly recommend it.