The structure of this novel is organized into sections: Before, Outbreak, Panic, Despair, Survival, Recovery, Strength, Adaptation, and Remembrance. A lesson that one might think would have been learnt during the last world war but, somehow, we manage to slip back into nineteenth century thinking. This in no way detracts from an intriguing premise that brings social issues into sharp focus, particularly how the gender dichotomy within politics and the division of labour does not serve us well. Given that we have all been educated on how a global pandemic is handled, and on the speed and efficacy of scientific research, a tad of disbelief needs to be suspended when reading the science behind Sweeney-Baird’s explanation of her gender specific virus. Written in 2018, it eerily preceded Covid-19. Only one in ten men are immune from the virus, the reason for which is not discovered for several chapters. The novel takes place in 2025 it features a devastating global plague that attacks only men, although everyone is a spreading host. The above accolades were inspired by Christina Sweeney-Baird’s novel, The End of Men. Oh, what a brilliant thought experiment! Speculative fiction at its best! Readers will be thinking about this premise long after reading the last page.
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