Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey
Sarah Gailey's stories are usually set in the wild weird American West and her stories punch way above their weight in terms of being moving and thought-provoking narratives that are an entertaining mix of violent action and well developed characters. Her latest, Upright Women Wanted is a little gem of a story that is possibly the shiniest gem in her Tiara. Still set in the weird Wild West of a Futura-South West Americana, where there is always a war going on, men are constantly being conscripted and the patriarchal society is steeped in strict fascist homophobic rules and propaganda. Women, on the other hand, are still being treated as furniture, pressed into marriage against their wishes.
Our story follows stowaway Esther who is running away from her oppressive household. She's running away from her father who wants her to marry her best-friend Beatriz's ex-beau. Beatriz was sentenced to hanging ( in the name of having possessed illegal propaganda material. but in reality, for perhaps having been bold enough to flout the homophobic rules against queers in the society.) Esther longs to be "Librarian" - a sort of nomadic, rebellious, road revolutionary spreading the good government's word and blessings. But reality, as Esther soon finds out, couldn't have been farther from that. These traveling librarians are a set of two ( sort of like the whole Jedi Master and Apprentice set up!) - the older matrons Betta and Leti are a lesbian couple, very much in love with each other. Cye, the apprentice is something of a bi-gender and is a hard taskmaster, who resents that she has to babysit the stowaway. But Esther is fascinated by 'them' (Cye mostly!) and soon, endears herself to the group with her earnestness to learn. The myth of librarians are further blown to smithereens as the group stops to pick up 'cargo' - in terms of more 'free-thinking' women and help them move around, in the pretext of loading and unloading government propaganda books and pamphlets. But the 'cargo' they picked up soon invites trouble, as the group finds out with a bunch of bandits, unruly lawmakers hot on their trial. Esther, unwittingly gets pulled into the thick of this soup-curry of a conspiracy as bullets fly and the buzzards start gathering in the dry, arid desert canyons that surround their paths.
Written in the classic western mold, six-shooters, dusty blue skies and the thrilling chase-sequences on horseback - all of these form the backdrop to Esther's intimate story of self-discovery. She's writhing in a pool of guilt for having had 'feelings' for her best friend Beatriz which she strongly suspects might have led to her being falsely implicated. But she's soon realizing that it is actually a free country. There's Cye with that gruff behaviour but a heart of gold, whom she's falling hard for. Not to mention the unspeakable just got real with the Librarians themselves being a lovely couple, who are so in love with each other and are defying the laws by helping out other women, just like themselves get away from their yokes. And then there's Amity - one of the brightest sparks in the story, she's a revelation. A rebel-yell, a middle-finger to the patriarchal society with a wicked smile ready at the drop of a hat, Amity's badass attitude lends Esther courage to find herself. Buried beneath those unyielding blankets of guilt and a strict upbringing.
It's a lovely tale, a delight of feminist outcry and joyous rebellion against age-old stigmas and patriarchal lawlessness - couched in the garb of a Neo-western with smart authentic characters and deft cinematic action sequences, written in Sarah's inimitable prose.
Upright Women Wanted is a tale that we need today.
Our story follows stowaway Esther who is running away from her oppressive household. She's running away from her father who wants her to marry her best-friend Beatriz's ex-beau. Beatriz was sentenced to hanging ( in the name of having possessed illegal propaganda material. but in reality, for perhaps having been bold enough to flout the homophobic rules against queers in the society.) Esther longs to be "Librarian" - a sort of nomadic, rebellious, road revolutionary spreading the good government's word and blessings. But reality, as Esther soon finds out, couldn't have been farther from that. These traveling librarians are a set of two ( sort of like the whole Jedi Master and Apprentice set up!) - the older matrons Betta and Leti are a lesbian couple, very much in love with each other. Cye, the apprentice is something of a bi-gender and is a hard taskmaster, who resents that she has to babysit the stowaway. But Esther is fascinated by 'them' (Cye mostly!) and soon, endears herself to the group with her earnestness to learn. The myth of librarians are further blown to smithereens as the group stops to pick up 'cargo' - in terms of more 'free-thinking' women and help them move around, in the pretext of loading and unloading government propaganda books and pamphlets. But the 'cargo' they picked up soon invites trouble, as the group finds out with a bunch of bandits, unruly lawmakers hot on their trial. Esther, unwittingly gets pulled into the thick of this soup-curry of a conspiracy as bullets fly and the buzzards start gathering in the dry, arid desert canyons that surround their paths.
Written in the classic western mold, six-shooters, dusty blue skies and the thrilling chase-sequences on horseback - all of these form the backdrop to Esther's intimate story of self-discovery. She's writhing in a pool of guilt for having had 'feelings' for her best friend Beatriz which she strongly suspects might have led to her being falsely implicated. But she's soon realizing that it is actually a free country. There's Cye with that gruff behaviour but a heart of gold, whom she's falling hard for. Not to mention the unspeakable just got real with the Librarians themselves being a lovely couple, who are so in love with each other and are defying the laws by helping out other women, just like themselves get away from their yokes. And then there's Amity - one of the brightest sparks in the story, she's a revelation. A rebel-yell, a middle-finger to the patriarchal society with a wicked smile ready at the drop of a hat, Amity's badass attitude lends Esther courage to find herself. Buried beneath those unyielding blankets of guilt and a strict upbringing.
It's a lovely tale, a delight of feminist outcry and joyous rebellion against age-old stigmas and patriarchal lawlessness - couched in the garb of a Neo-western with smart authentic characters and deft cinematic action sequences, written in Sarah's inimitable prose.
Upright Women Wanted is a tale that we need today.
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