An imaginative, feminist, and brilliantly relevant-to-today retelling
of Orwell's 1984, from the point of view of Winston Smith's lover,
Julia, by critically acclaimed novelist Sandra Newman.
Julia Worthing is a mechanic, working in the Fiction Department at the
Ministry of Truth. It's 1984, and Britain (now called Airstrip One) has
long been absorbed into the larger trans-Atlantic nation of Oceania.
Oceania has been at war for as long as anyone can remember, and is ruled
by an ultra-totalitarian Party, whose leader is a quasi-mythical figure
called Big Brother. In short, everything about this world is as it is in
Orwell's 1984.
Julia has known no other world than that of Oceania and, until she meets
Winston Smith, never imagined one. She's an ideal citizen of Oceania.
Cheerfully cynical, believing in nothing and caring not at all about
politics, she routinely breaks the rules but also collaborates with the
regime whenever necessary. Everyone likes Julia. But when one day,
finding herself walking toward Winston in a corridor, she impulsively
hands him a note--a potentially suicidal gesture--she comes to realize
that she's losing her grip and can no longer safely navigate her world.
The passing of that note sets into motion the devastating, unforgettable
events of the classic story. Julia takes us on a surprising journey as
seen through the eyes of an indestructible young woman trying to survive
in Orwell's now-iconic dystopian world, while laying bare our own world
in bold and proactive ways, just as the original did almost seventy-five
years ago.
