Daughters of Chaos, Jen Fawkes
Daughters of Chaos, Jen Fawkes
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Daughters of Chaos

Author: Jen Fawkes

Narrator: Stina Nielsen

Unabridged: 8 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 07/09/2024


Synopsis

AN EPIC NOVEL ABOUT CIVIL WAR–ERA NASHVILLE’S “PUBLIC WOMEN,” AN AGE-OLD SECRET SOCETY, AND THE EARTH-SHAKING POWER OF THE FEMALE

In 1862, after a tragedy at home, twenty-two-year-old Sylvie Swift parts ways with her twin brother to trace the origins of an enigmatic playscript that’s landed on their doorstep. This text leads her to Nashville, an occupied city bustling with soldiers, saboteurs, partisans, powerful men—and powerful women. Sylvie translates the playscript by day, but at night, drawn into the work by the chief of the Union Army’s Secret Service, she acts as a spy.

Both endeavors acquaint her with a sisterhood whose members—including Hannah, a fiery revolutionary to whom Sylvie is increasingly drawn—possess potentially monstrous powers. Sylvie soon becomes entangled in the Cult of Chaos, a feminist society steadfast in its ancient mission to eradicate the violence of men.

Inspired by Aristophanes’ Lysistrata and the true story of Nashville’s attempt to exile its prostitutes during the American Civil War, Daughters of Chaos weaves together “found” texts, fabulism, and queer themes to question familiar notions of history and family, warfare and power.

“A dazzling synthesis of history, myth, and sheer invention. Fawkes is a bold, wild, funny writer, unafraid of taking risks. I’m eager to see what she does next.”—Charles Yu, National Book Award–winning author of Interior Chinatown

Reviews

Goodreads review by Geonn

My only real downside on this one is long stretches of script recitation that I tend to find hard to follow in audio (I'm not sure why, it's not THAT different listening to it vs prose). Otherwise a very unique read.......more

Goodreads review by Doreen

7/28/2024 2.5 stars grudgingly rounded up because I don't think it's harmful, exactly, which is what 2 stars usually means from me. Full review tk at TheFrumiousConsortium.net. 7/30/2024 Oh dear. This book starts out so promisingly, as a woman on her deathbed makes her lover swear to speak with the d......more

Thank you to NetGalley and Abrams Books for an Advanced Reader’s Copy in exchange for an honest review. Speculative and historical fiction meet in this story following a little-known piece of American history from the Civil War era. Wonderfully written through the lenses of narrative, letters, newsp......more

2/5 Stars TL;DR - A super interesting premise, and that’s about it. Boring, mostly-nonsensical, with a tissue paper-thin plot and little resolution or explanation. I wanted to like it, but it really let me down in the end. Big thanks to Abrams, The Overlook Press, and NetGalley for providing the ARC f......more

Goodreads review by Melissa

I don’t know if anyone else has had this experience, but do you ever find ‘answers’ or insight into personal struggles while you’re reading fiction – from novels that appear to have nothing at all to do with your situation? Because, let me tell you – a story set during the Civil War in a Tennessee br......more