Truth Sister by Phil Gilvin
Knowledge is power. Knowing it, could save you ... or kill you.
Year 2149 in the Women's Republic of Anglia and in the Academy, Clara Perdue is training to become a Truth Sister, a privileged position allowing her to maintain the new order of social purity. Men broke the world as it was, caused the changes in the climate that brought so much pain. Only women can bring order to the chaos and Clara wants more than anything to help bring it about.
But when she stumbles upon information that the Republic has tried to suppress, questions surface. And a family secret that brings danger to Clara's family only adds to her confusion. Is the social purity she believes in even possible? And in a world of lies, how can she know what is true?
Clara pushed herself into her position of influence and now she must choose. Will she bow down to the institution she was raised to believe in and grew to love, or will she risk everything for her family
Clara's choices will impact not only her and her family, but potentially the fabric of the Republic.
About the author
Phil Gilvin lives with his wife in Swindon, UK, nestling in the rolling downland of Wiltshire amid neolithic barrows, ancient droveways and stone circles - and the M4 motorway. When his children grew too old to have stories read to them he turned to writing, going to lots of workshops and winning a number of short story prizes. His short stories have regularly been shortlisted in magazine competitions and have featured in local anthologies. Truth Sister is his first published novel (his first two, unpublished, got consigned to the "that's how you learn" pile). Phil is a retired physicist, and he now enjoys walking in aforesaid downland as well as listening to classical music and prog rock, and murdering folk songs.
Review
‘Truth Sister’ is an engaging dystopian novel that really makes you wonder if the events portrayed could really occur! It was well-written, with believable and compelling characters and a narrative that hopefully is not a portent to the future. This is the first book in the series and I enjoyed to the extent that I will be looking out for its follow up ‘Blackwolf’.
2149 and women are in power. The Republic knows that knowledge is power and it attempting to reclaim it from history. It seeks for technology that will help now and in the future. Clara Perdue has just finished her education and is now working at the Institute of Knowledge as a Truth Sister. When she stumbles on some information that makes her question the Republic. When a secret from her past threatens her future and those around her Clara must choose between subservience or rebellion.
It is a bit of a slow start to the book but in its defence it has to set up the world-building aspect and introduce us to us dogma and the main players in the series. Whilst I found most of it to be believable it was the lack of technology I found to be weird, surely by that stage the world would have been run on renewables. The rest about climate change, people being desperate to survive and new dogmas and ideas coming forth was believable and authentic.
I must admit I found Clara to be very prissy at the start and I wasn't sure I would like her. But as the story progresses you get to see her coming-of-age journey as she matures into someone with empathy and is determined to get to the truth!
Let me know if you pick this one up.
