Irene Clyde – författare

A pioneering feminist adventure in an alternate world before the concept of gender. Introduced by Lucy Sante, author of the acclaimed memoir of transition I Heard Her Call My Name, this pioneering 1909 feminist utopia is productively discombobulating. When Mary Hatherley, an intrepid British explorer, is kicked in the head by the camel she was riding through the Arabian desert, she finds herself transported to what seems to be an alternate version of Earth. Arriving in Armeria, she discovers a society in which the very concept of gender is unknown. Like Mary, the reader will become disoriented, enjoyably so: By avoiding the use of gendered pronouns, the story s author (herself a gender-fluid activist) challenges our assumptions about gendered social paradigms.

Originally published in 1909, Beatrice the Sixteenth: Being the Personal Narrative of Mary Hatherley, M.B., Explorer and Geographer is the debut feminist science fiction novel by Irene Clyde.Mary Harthereley is lost. After being struck by a camel’s hoof, Mary finds herself thrown into an alternate plane of existence some five hundred years in the past. Discovered by people of the local province, she is escorted into the Kingdom of Armeria ruled by Queen Beatrice the Sixteenth. Welcomed by the inhabitants, Mary is introduced to a rather progresive society wherein there is no gender, divorce or carnivores and is taken in by their concept of “conjux,”—lifetime partnerships based on romantic love and companionship rather than sex. Finding herself growing fond of the kingdom, Mary uncovers deception and plot as a war threatens to upend all that the Armerias hold dear.Professionally typeset with a beautifully designed cover, this edition of Beatrice the Sixteenth is a classic of feminist science fiction literature, reimagined for modern readers.