Suzette Haden Elgin – författare

Set in the twenty-second century after the repeal of the Nineteenth Amendment, the novel reveals a world where women are once again property, denied civil rights, and banned from public life. In this world, Earth''s wealth relies on interplanetary commerce, for which the population depends on linguists, a small, clannish group of families whose women breed and become perfect translators of all the galaxies'' languages. The linguists wield power, but live in isolated compounds, hated by the population, and in fear of class warfare. But a group of women is destined to challenge the power of men and linguists. Nazareth, the most talented linguist of her family, is exhausted by her constant work translating for the government, supervising the children''s language education in the Alien-in-Residence interface chambers, running the compound, and caring for the elderly men. She longs to retire to the Barren House, where women past childbearing age knit, chat, and wait to die. What Nazareth does not yet know is that a clandestine revolution is going on in the Barren Houses: there, word by word, women are creating a language of their own to free them of men''s domination. Their secret must, above all, be kept until the language is ready for use. The women''s language, Láadan, is only one of the brilliant creations found in this stunningly original novel, which combines a page-turning plot with challenging meditations on the tensions between freedom and control, individuals and communities, thought and action.

An instant cult classic upon first publication, Suzette Haden Elgin''s Native Tongue trilogy has earned wide critical acclaim, shocking and captivating a loyal readership among science fiction and women''s literature audiences alike.Sequel to the enormously popular Native Tongue, The Judas Rosecontinues Elgin''s gripping vision of a frightening, male-dominated world where the women of Earth are virtually enslaved. Once again, this group of women-and the nonviolent yet transformative power of language-is called upon to challenge Earth''s violent, patriarchal order. Their revolutionary tool is Laadan-a secret women''s language created to free them from men''s control and make resistance possible for all women.In The Judas Rose, the time has come to take Laadan from underground and spread its revolutionary power to women everywhere-in part, through a group of nuns inside the Roman Catholic Church. But when a handful of horrified priests uncover the women''s sabotage they move to stamp it out with an undercover female agent of their own.

Originally published in 1984, this dystopian trilogy—"a pioneering feminist experiment"—is a testament to the power of language and women''s collective action (Literary Hub).

In 2205, the 19th Amendment has long been repealed and women are only valued for their utility. The Earth''s economy depends on an insular group of linguists who "breed" women to be perfect interstellar translators until they are sent to the Barren House to await death. But instead, these women are slowly creating a language of their own to make resistance possible. Ignorant to this brewing revolution, Nazareth, a brilliant linguist, and Michaela, a servant, both seek emancipation in their own ways. But their personal rebellions risk exposing the secret language, and threaten the possibility of freedom for all.

Originally published in the 1980s, the Native Tongue trilogy is a classic dystopian tale: a testament to the power of language and women''s collective action. In the stunning conclusion to the series, Earthsong imagines a completely new way of being.

The interstellar Consortium of Planets has forsaken the irredeemably violent Earth, condemning the planet to economic and ecological chaos. As the Consortium prepares to euthanize the planet, women freedom fighters are offered one last chance to correct men’s brutal nature and stop the planet’s annihilation.

In the final book of the Native Tongue trilogy, female linguists must once again come forward to ensure the survival of humanity.

“This angry feminist text is also an exemplary experiment in speculative fiction, deftly and implacably pursuing both a scientific hypothesis and an ideological hypothesis through all their social, moral, and emotional implications.” —Ursula K. Le Guin