Native Tongue New Edition

“Less well known than the The Handmaid’s Tale but just as apocalyptic in [its] vision . . . Suzette Haden Elgin’s Native Tongue New Edition. . . records female tribulation in a world where . . . women have no public rights at all. Elgin’s heroines do, however, have one set of weapons–words of their own.” —Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, The New York Times Book Review

“Native Tongue New Edition brings to life not only the possibility of a women’s language, but also the rationale for one. . . . [It is] a language that can bring to life concepts men have never needed, have never dreamed of–and thus change the world. Elgin never makes the mistake of easy utopiansim or over-optimism. Her women revel in patience.” —Voice Literary Supplement

“As a nonreader of science fiction . . . I urge Native Tongue New Edition upon you. . . . Like Margaret Atwood in The Handmaid’s Tale but more drastically and distinctly, Elgin has carried current fundamentalist views on women to their ‘logical’ conclusion. . . . Above all she understands that until women find the words and syntax for what they need to say, they will never say it, nor will the world hear it. . . . There isn’t a phony or romantic moment here, and the story is absolutely compelling.” —Women’s Review of Books

“Elgin’s novel will inspire those who believe that women’s words can change the world. Read it!”
—Marleen S. Barr, author of Lost in Space: Probing Feminist Science Fiction and Beyond