The Gate to Women's Country: A Novel

Okay, I first read this probably around when it first came out. I was going through my own women's lib learning curve and thought this would be very interesting since I'd loved most of SST's other fantasy works. I however finished that reading with very mixed feelings. I reread it again when I was well into my own adulthood and had a more solid grasp on where my own liberation and "feminism" (I don't like that word and never felt it was defined properly) and still found myself disagreeing with the premise. Now that I'm a senior female, decided I needed to read it again and found it, again, kind of wrong. This time I questioned why things were done the way they were in the book--why relegate all male children to a military existence to begin with? Doesn't make much sense to me. Just sort out the male children with violent tendencies. But I guess nowadays we call that jail and prison. This is the one Sheri Tepper book and idea, that I have the most trouble with, although in many of her other books she does come down hard on ALL males. Maybe I've been very very lucky to have known a lot of liberated males during my lifetime, and learned how to get-around the more controlling ones. I think it is important for all society to be integrated in all ways and that both genders (or all genders) contribute to the wealth of knowledge. I also believe that if mothers raised their sons to be more responsible humans, not just responsible males but just responsible souls, we probably wouldn't have so many males who feel they should be privileged and who feel they are above everyone else. I do blame the mothers for a lot of the problems, I saw it in my own family and in the family. I don't think segregating the males from the females solves anything--no more than segregating black and white, or old and young, or rich from not rich, etc. That just creates more division and neither end understands the other, or even thinks of the other as human. I also never found the "servors" (not a good name for that status because it makes it sound too much like those people are just and never will be anything more than servants) to be appealing at all, to me they feel more like eunices with no sex appeal--so unless all those women are being artificially inseminated (and what's the fun in that?), then I don't know how procreation goes on in Women's Country. I also know men, the vast majority of men, need a certain amount of challenge and competition(? not quite right but I can't think of the word I want) for testosterone to continue to be high enough to feel like males--men need a certain kind of male dominance, not control or abuse or real dominance, but they need to feel they are manly men in order to procreate successfully. Emasculated males don't work well.

Well, I thought I had already made my comments about this book but maybe not. I first read this book when it first came out. I had read some of the writer's books before and enjoyed them in varying degrees. I liked this book, and recommended it to my then teenage daughter. She liked it and passed the recommendation on to her friends. Although that was years ago memory of the book has stayed evergreen and I downloaded it on my kindle and re-read it. Memory, being fraught with lapses, didn't serve me all thate and most of the story was new to me. I enjoyed it almost as a first-time read. I had forgotten the use of the great tragedy "The Trojan Women" in the story, but I found it singularly appropriate for the book's story and theme. The book is regarded as a "feminist" tome, but it really is a human story and does address the sins and results of male-dominated society. The women in the story have taken actions to alliviate the effects of such a society and are successful in their efforts. This isn't a beautiful or elegant book--though there are isolated moments--but the writing is serviceable and readable; what makes it such a good work is its thought-provoking nature. I treasure this book and have no hesitation recommending it to anyone.

About 20 years ago, a young woman student of mine in college writing course strongly praised this novel, and for 20 years a copy of it sat on one of my bookshelves unread. Finally, I started to read the paperback. But through the years I've transitioned from hard copy to Kindle and Audible, so I can synchronize my reading and listening. So, the paperback still sits on my shelf while I devoured it. It reminds me of "The Handmaid's Tale" dealing with a possible future that exists after our current generations have destroyed our lands and societies through war, greed, and what another young writing student once malapropped as "egotesticalness." So, thanks for the recommendation, Autumn! You were right!

A novel set in a post holocaust future. Possibly her best work certainly the most thought provoking work she has written that I have read. Would really like a sequel but it would have to be really outstanding to come close in quality of vision, an adventure romp set in the world however would be easy.

I first read this book as a young teenager and always loved it, as ive grown its come to mean more, the book is set between the main characters past and present set in the future where mankind has unleashed the devastation of nuclear power, although set in the future it reminds me of a greek period or roman period in time where nearly all of the technology of their past has been wiped out. Great book

I love Sheri Tepper and have read and re-read virtually everything she's ever written (though I couldn't get along with the Marianne, Mavin Manyshaped and King's Blood series which are all a bit too heavy on the total fantasy aspects for my taste).I couldn't decide when I read the blurb whether I'd read Gate to Women's Country before. It turned out I had, but it must have been a long time ago and I think I got a lot more out of it this time. Tepper doesn't pull her punches. It's very clever the way she interweaves the Greek Play alongside the main story as it sheds so much light on the way Women's Country works. The things these women had to do to bring their society up to a decent level of civilisation. Wow - these are some strong women.

I look at our world now and wonder if it would be better like the world in this tale. Where the men think they have the power but the truth of it sits in women's country

An imaginative story well written. Worth reading, although not as good as her "Grass" novel.