When She Woke

2013 Longlist

I am red now. It was her first thought of the day, every day, surfacing after a few seconds of fogged, blessed ignorance and sweeping through her like a wave, breaking in her breast with a soundless roar. Hard on its heels came the second wave, crashing into the wreckage left by the first: He is gone.

Hannah Payne’s life has been devoted to church and family. But after she’s convicted of murder, she awakens in a new body 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 to 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 and rehabilitated 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.

(From Publisher)

About the Author

Hillary Jordan’s first novel, Mudbound, was the winner fo the 2006 Bellwether Prize for fiction, awarded by Barbara Kingsolver, and an Alex Award, from the American Library Association. It was named the NAIBA Fiction Book of the Year and was chosen as a Barnes & Noble Discover title, a Borders Original Voices selection, and an Indie Next pick. Jordan grew up in Texas and Oklahoma. She lives in New York City.

Librarian’s Comments

This novel blends the issues of reproductive freedom, criminal justice, and the separation of church and state with an engrossing story driven by a compelling protagonist.