(Technically, I’m giving this a 4.5. This widget does not understand that I need more options.) The Unmothers has been described as Midsommar meets the Handmaid’s Tale. The creepy small town vibes are 100% on point. My own smallish town is looking more suspicious by the minute. I have been a little concerned about what goes on in the barn down the road. Sure, they say it’s just weddings and town events, but when they advertised the fiber festival, I should have known things were getting shady. (No, I never found out what kind of fiber we were celebrating.) But the women of The Unmothers are taking charge of some small part of their lives and have been for generations. All kept secret from the men of the town.
When Marshall, a “big city” reporter, visits Raeford to investigate the rumor that a horse gave birth to a human baby she knows that it is really just to get her out of the office for a bit while she recovers from her husband’s unexpected death. Obviously, this is an insane story that’s intended to keep the mother’s identity secret since the baby is being raised by its father. The longer she stays, the less insane it seems.
I really loved this book. It was creepy and unsettling. At first I wasn’t sure what direction it was going to take, but once it decides it goes full force. The question about how far you’ll go to save yourself and survive is on the minds of everyone in town, not just the women. Life is hard for the people of Raeford. Economic problems and the opioid epidemic have hit the town hard. Most people are just getting by. It was easy to empathize with the people of the town, but none of them were perfect.
Spoilers
There is a rumor that the women of the town are able to, through a creepy ritual behind the church, decide to have one of the town’s many horses carry and give birth to their children. This turns out to be 100% true. HORSES are having HUMAN babies in this town. When I first read this I was of 2 minds. First, yes. That sounds great. I had some tough pregnancies and I’d be all up for having a baby without all that. But obviously there had to be some sort of terrible cost to the whole “here’s a baby you didn’t have to carry or birth because a horse did it” thing. And there is. You have to kill someone you hate. I mean sure killing someone you loved would be worse but, maybe don’t kill people. So I guess we know why so many father’s in town have gone missing. I cannot stress enough that you need to not piss off any women in this town. They have so much incentive to kill you. So much.
Do not anger the women. Do not visit small towns. More lessons from horror media.
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