The Girl in the Road
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
A young woman called Meena wakes up one morning covered in blood. There are mysterious snakebites across her chest. She knows she's in danger but something has happened to her memory. All she can do is run - but why? And from whom?
As Meena plots her escape she hears of the Trail - an extraordinary, forbidden bridge that spans the Arabian sea, connecting India to Africa like a silver ribbon. Its purpose is to harness the power of the ocean - Blue Energy - but it also offers a subculture of travellers a chance for sanctuary and adventure.
Convinced the Trail is her salvation, Meena gathers supplies - GPS, a scroll reader, a sealable waterproof pod. And so begins her extraordinary journey - both physical and spiritual - from India to Ethiopia, the home of her birth. But as she runs away from the threat of violence she is also running towards a shocking revelation about her past and her family.
'It's transfixing to watch Monica Byrne become a major player in science fiction with her debut novel . . . Beautifully drawn people in a future that feels so close you can touch it, blended with lush language and concerns of myth. It builds a bridge from past to future, from East to West. Glorious stuff' - Neil Gaiman
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The Trail, or Trans-Arabian Linear Generator, reaches from Bombay to Africa, resembles a "pontoon bridge," and in the year 2068 generates a vast amount of energy from both the sea and the sun. In this debut novel, it also becomes a means for Meena, a tough young woman living in India, to travel to Ethiopia, where she was born and where her parents were killed soon thereafter. Byrne builds an elaborate future with complex geopolitical realities and a fascinating scientific illustration of the Trail and its power. She also has a clear handle on everything from Hindu rituals to Addis Ababa side streets. Unfortunately, the concepts aren't enough to bring Meena to life, or perhaps it's the ideas that suffocate the characters. With overbearing first-person exposition, violent melodrama, and exaggerated sexual escapades, the book never quite coalesces into the sum of its many parts. Additionally, the narrative relies on alternating chapters featuring another story thread an escaped slave girl, Mariama, heading east toward India as Meena travels west. The two plot strands eventually intertwine, but instead of illuminating one another, they contribute to an overall sense of discombobulation.
