Review: Upright Women Wanted

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In a love letter to the power of librarians, the safety of community, and the underlying tenet of the "It Gets Better" project, author Sarah Gailey spins the tale of Esther, a young woman who has been heartbroken by the execution of her dearest friend, with whom she was in love, for possession of seditious materials. To make matters worse, the man who executed her beloved Beatriz was her father, and he now plans to marry Esther off to someone important, someone... male. The only choice is to run and so Esther stows away in a librarian's wagon. Discovered two days later, Esther states she wants to join the Honorable Brigade of Morally Upright Women. She wants to join so badly she memorized (verbatim) their recruiting posters. Against the inclinations of a librarian named Cye, the two other librarians Bet and Leda take pity on Esther and plan to drop her off in Utah, where the insurrectionists live. Over the course of the novella, Cye softens a bit on Esther. Well, maybe a lot. And Esther finds a purpose in the role librarians can play in the resistance... they can fight.

This was an inspired novella and I saved it to read on International Women's Day! Perfect fit.


I received a paper review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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