National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich (The Round House) surprises and unnerves in Future Home of the Living God, a dystopian depiction of a world on the brink of collapse, and one woman's battle to protect herself and her unborn child. Cedar, an adopted Ojibwe raised by a loving Midwestern family, is pregnant. But fertility rates are down, and even fertile women have been unable to survive labor. As the increasingly religious government begins abducting pregnant women under the guise of protecting the human race, Cedar must fight to maintain her freedom, ensure her survival and protect her unborn child.
Balancing nimble writing with thematic gravitas, this speculative novel establishes Erdrich as a powerful and distinctive voice in the genre. Known for her literary fiction, she never allows her high-concept plot to overwhelm her beautiful prose and gripping voice. She imagines a rich dark world that reverberates with mysticism rather than becoming entrapped in the gritty realism common in dystopian literature. And while Erdrich proves her ability to craft a thrilling story, this novel nonetheless resists any urge to ignore culture and identity in the face of catastrophic events. Her expansive characters battle the concept that individual representation, both gendered and ethnic, must be ignored for the sake of survival. By focusing on the complexities of love, trust and motherhood, Future Home of the Living God suggests that there is no larger conflict than that of the human soul. --Alice Martin, freelance writer and editor