When She Woke

By: Hillary Jordan

Narrated by: Heather Corrigan

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Hannah Payne awakens to a nightmare. She is lying on a table in a bare room, covered only by a paper gown, with cameras broadcasting her every move to millions at home. She is now a convicted criminal, and her skin color has been genetically altered. Her crime, according to the State of Texas: the murder of her unborn child, whose father she refuses to name. Her color: red. The color of newly shed blood.

In Hannah's America, sometime in the future, faith, love, and sexuality have fallen prey to politics. Convicted felons are no longer imprisoned and rehabilitated, but "chromed", forced to appear in a new and sinister form of reality TV, and released back into the population. Stigmatized in a hostile world, they must survive the best they can.

Until her arrest, Hannah had devoted her life to church and family. In seeking a path to safety, she is forced to question the values she once held true and the righteousness of a country that politicizes the personal.

©2011 Original material ©2011 Hillary Jordan. Recorded by arrangement with Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing Company, Inc. Excerpt from Sharon Morris's "Not Just an Image" from False Spring, © 2007 Sharon Morris, Enitharmon Press, London, UK. Excerpted by permission of the author. (P)2011 (p) 2011 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"Jordan blends hot-button issues such as the separation of church and state, abortion, and criminal justice with an utterly engrossing story, driven by a heroine as layered and magnetic as Hester Prynne herself." ( Booklist [HC starred review])

Pretty good!

There's an element of "I've heard this story before", don't let that hold you up in getting this book because it's well told. While it's set a bit in the future the political and religious aspects feel possible and cautionary. There's some obvious preaching to the choir if you're a mainstream type but I've know people who've come up in the environment the lead character does and it was pertinent to the storyline. Worth a credit!

Couldn't stop listening!!

What did you like best about this story?

The story was well thought out and revealed in a way that didn't make a book set in the future sound like science fiction.

What does Heather Corrigan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She is perfect for the book. She was kind of mousy....but not in a bad way. Hannah was strong but quiet. I thought Heather played it perfectly!!

667th review:)

So far so good. I am excited for the rest of it. Good luck to you all. :)

Some things just didn’t line up

The beginning was great. I loved the concept but I feel the execution was rushed and it honestly felt very much like a fan fiction. Characters having relations with characters where there was no previous chemistry. Some parts were very grim dark and some things just did not make sense for certain characters to do. I wanted to like this book more than I did. It was entertaining. But I would not read it again.

Thought provoking

This was a compelling story. I couldn't stop listening. I didn't want it to end

A Thoughtful Dystopia

I saw it promoted as a "reimagining" of The Scarlet Letter - which, let's face it, is quite a tall order - but it seems to me as if Hillary Jordan used The Scarlet Letter only as a fruitful springboard and inspiration. She isn't slavishly devoted to the text, although she certainly paid tribute to some of the Hawthorne's key insights into the human condition. This is all to the good.

Although the novel wasn't marketed as a "young adult dystopia," it easily fits into that category, as twenty-something Hannah Payne experiences a true coming of age as she grows into and accepts herself.

Set in a not-too-distant future United States that suffers from excessive surveillance, moral superiority, and inhumane "justice" (creating the dyed "Chromes" whose bodies telegraph their crimes), the novel manages to achieve a number of impressive objectives. Hannah is a deeply sympathetic character who gradually becomes aware of how small her world has been, and how many "boxes" she's willingly confined herself in (mentally, spiritually, and physically) over her young life. We experience the unfairness and brutality of her sentencing and ostracism, and yet the horror of what she chose to do -- abort the baby of a famous married minister -- is never underplayed. Despite the fact Hannah rejects the unquestioning fundamentalism of her upbringing, she fully embraces the central importance of religious faith in her life.

Every time I expected Jordan to descend into stereotypes -- about Southerners, Christians, straight or gay people, men or women, those who are made victims or those who refuse to become so -- she instead offered layered and complex characterizations and thought-provoking twists. The father who is loyal to his traditional church and nuclear family is painted with sensitivity, as is the lesbian revolutionary and her dedication to the underground movement that opposes the status quo. Even the weak-willed minister, the father to Hannah's unborn baby, is poignant in his shame, self-loathing, and lack of moral courage.

There are some true villains, but all of them are opportunists who exploit the system(s) for their own perverse and personal enjoyment of control over those who have no recourse or self-defense. In the end, this dystopia challenges us to examine our assumptions and to accept responsibility for our lives, souls, and decisions. I appreciate Jordan's ability to critique the deeply flawed institutions humans have created without casually dismissing the reasons they came to exist in the first place.

This novel is challenging in the questions it raises and unflinching in its warnings, as any quality dystopia should be. I'm very glad that I listened to it.

What A Ride

An unbelievable roller coaster of emotions. Being transported into a completely different world through beautifully described passages. Even the the people who are a tiny blip in the grand scheme of the story have deep character. At times a challenge to get through due to subject matter, it was a challenge I enjoyed. It took me out of my comfort zone, made me think, and put me right there by Hannah's side. This book will have a permeate spot on my iPod.

Spooky

This was a riveting disturbing book I couldn't turn it off! I will recommend it to friends. I will listen to it again sometime.

Really Enjoyed

This book was really different than most but it was really enjoyable. It was fiction, but not so far fetched that you couldn't imagine that it could happen. When I first heard the narrator I thought she would not be enjoyable, but since it turned out the main character was a young women, the voice fit.

Great Read

What made the experience of listening to When She Woke the most enjoyable?

The narrator did a great job of changing her voice so that each character had a distinctive sound.

What did you like best about this story?

I like that this story is set in the distant future and that the author did not see it necessary to put everyone in silver suits driving flying cars. I can see how America could revert back to very stringent religious views and mannerisms in response to an epidemic. The author's choice of "chroming" was imaginative and I applaud this unexpected element of the story.

What does Heather Corrigan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I had a real sense of each character, as well as some insight to his/her personality.

Who was the most memorable character of When She Woke and why?

In addition to the main character, Aiden was a complex character and I enjoyed reading about him.

Any additional comments?

This is a really good story with a lot of unexpected twists and turns. At one point, I did find myself thinking "what else could possibly happen to this girl" because the story veered off in a direction that I don't think the character actually would have. However, I also understand the author's desire to add more depth and complexity to the character's story to show just how much one person can change based on their circumstances.