The End of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird

 

Only men carry the virus. Only women can save us all.

The year is 2025, and a mysterious virus has broken out in Scotland--a lethal illness that seems to affect only men. When Dr. Amanda MacLean reports this phenomenon, she is dismissed as hysterical. By the time her warning is heeded, it is too late. The virus becomes a global pandemic--and a political one. The victims are all men. The world becomes alien--a women's world.

What follows is the immersive account of the women who have been left to deal with the virus's consequences, told through first-person narratives. Dr. MacLean; Catherine, a social historian determined to document the human stories behind the "male plague"; intelligence analyst Dawn, tasked with helping the government forge a new society; and Elizabeth, one of many scientists desperately working to develop a vaccine. Through these women and others, we see the uncountable ways the absence of men has changed society, from the personal--the loss of husbands and sons--to the political--the changes in the workforce, fertility, and the meaning of family.

I have to write about this book. Because, and I shit you not, this was one of the best books I ever read.

I told Carolyn that we have to reopen the blog so I can talk about it.

So here we go: this book is about a pandemic. And since we're still in the damned pandemic obviously it runs deeper reading about one. But this one is so...  I heard about it on TikTok. They were talking about feminist books and this one caught my fancy: a plague that kills all men. Sign me up!

Except the book is so much. It's told only from women's perspectives and it rends your heart. Each story as it happens. Beginning with the first patient and the doctor who recognizes what's happening. And then the deaths. The sons, husbands, fathers. Each one tearing at someone's heart.

But so much more. Imagine losing your husband and son but your best friend has a husband whose immune and daughters. The jealousy. The hell of trying not to blame your friend but hating to the depth of your being.

I can't (and won't) try to critique the book in any kind of professional way. This book ripped my heart out. I read a few pages and had to put it down to feel what I read. It honestly took weeks to read because I needed to stop constantly to get into my feels.

Other amazing things about the book: it doesn't shy away from politics. Or what women would have to face without men. What would happen to our military? What would happen to communist countries if women took them over? Would we have food? Electricity? Garbage pick up?

Everything she writes makes sense. I loved every word. 

I wouldn't suggest this book to anyone/everyone. Being in a pandemic currently, I think this book would be hard to read (it was for me). But if you're willing to let your heart get torn out of your chest, this book is amazing. I loved it so much.