The Power

Naomi Alderman · b. 1974 · England

Why it matters

Teenage girls worldwide suddenly develop the ability to discharge lethal electric shocks, inverting the global gender hierarchy within a few years. A high-concept speculative thriller, framed as a manuscript reviewed five thousand years later, that takes power seriously as a corrupting force regardless of who holds it.

At a glance

A brisk, multi-viewpoint thriller structure carries a big premise at an accessible pace.