Book Review: 'In the Mother's Land' by Elisabeth Vonarburg
‘In the
Mother’s Land’, by Elisabeth Vonarburg (Bantam Spectra, 1992, 487 pp.), features
a cover illustration by Oscar Chichoni. The book’s English translation (from
the original in French) was done by Jane Brierley.
‘Mother’s
Land’ takes place in a future earth nearly a thousand years after combined
nuclear war and Eco-catastrophe have destroyed civilization. Small city-states
have arisen within the territory of Maerlande; outside its boundaries lie the
Badlands, areas still too hazardous from contaminating toxins and radiation to be
inhabited long-term. Technology is limited to steam power and the modest use of
electricity; most long-distance travel uses livestock, and the economy is
primarily agrarian.
One result
of the wars and ecological collapse of
the previous millennium is that much of the population is sterile, and the rate
of infant and child mortality is high. Only a small percentage of the female
population (the ‘Reds’) are permitted to mate and become pregnant. The
percentage of males in the overall population is under 5 %, and thus, men have
little political or social power within Maerlande; some of the restrictions
under which they labor are imposed as cautionary measures in light of the
prominent role of men in the downfall of the old world.
Maerlande is very much
a ‘Gyn/Ecology’, where woman exclusively serve as rulers and defenders of their
civilization. Maerlande society adheres to a belief in a female Deity, termed
‘Elli’, and a female Christ-equivalent, ‘Garde’, who died and was ‘resurrected’
centuries previously.
The
narrative follows the life of a young woman named Lisbei, who is born into a
high-ranking family in the city-state of Bethely. As Lisbei matures and travels
around the city-states of Maerlande she comes to question the religious and
historical legends that underpin its civilization. Her explorations into buried pre-Decline
sites soon bring her considerable notoriety as an iconoclast and rebel, and
ultimately lead her to question the logic behind the social order and its
implications for the future of Maerlande.
‘Mother’s
Land’ is a lengthy, deliberately-paced novel and best read by those who seek SF
with a decidedly ‘soft science’ bent. The plot relies on prolonged explorations
of social and psychological conflicts and conundrums to generate drama and
tension. People have emotion-laden conversations with one another, and muse on
the significance of various Relationships. They do yoga (the ‘taitche’). Some
have mild ESP abilities that manifest as an awareness of an aura radiating from
other sensitives.
There are no
Radscorpions, Raiders, Feral Ghouls or Deathclaws coming out of the Badlands to commit various acts of mayhem. Nobody unearths a Gatling Laser from a long-buried
fallout shelter and decides to take over the world with violent gusto. No subjugated
race of deformed mutants instigates a bloody revolt to gain their place in the
Sun.
‘Mother’s
Land’ is not by any means a feminist polemic; the narrative does not preoccupy
itself with feminist ‘issues’, being more of a commentary on how the most
structured of societies may rest on a cultural and religious foundation derived from apocryphal sources.
The last chapter in the book is a disappointment.
The author tries to introduce some major revelations about a number of major
characters; unfortunately, this is done in a very confusing and obtuse manner.
To make things worse, a contrived plot mechanism is used to underpin the
revelations; so contrived, in fact, as to make me think that the book would
have been better off with the last chapter excised.
In summary,
‘Mother’s Land’ will primarily appeal to those readers willing to embrace a
contemplative, slow-moving narrative centered on defining and expanding
interactions among the characters, rather a novel centered on action and adventure.
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