An alien craft approaches Earth. The alien on board is a fugitive, fleeing from an arranged marriage to freedom on our world. She befriends James, a genetics student, and shares her knowledge about the future of the human race with him.
A science experiment gone wrong gifts James with superhuman abilities; but they come at a price, leading him to mentor others like himself. He founds a group of amateur heroes called the Freedom League.
The Freedom League suffers a string of losses and tragedies; it seems doomed to failure; but one of its members, Peter Mayfield, has vowed to form a group of his own. He is determined to keep his vow, despite having lost Rosemary, the one person he wanted by his side to help him.
Lizzie Hopkins is a talented young athlete and dancer. Peter sees her in action and guesses her exceptional abilities are far more than they seem. He offers to train and mentor Lizzie – but her mother is violently opposed to his suggestion.
As soon as she is old enough, Lizzie takes matters into her own hands; she seeks out Peter and his group for herself. She soon makes a discovery which shakes her world at its very foundations. Her search for the truth will resolve many unanswered questions, but it will also stir up old heartbreaks dating back to the Freedom League’s early days.
General Information
Pages: 314
Published: 16 June 2016
ISBN: 978-1533693891
First page
The space craft hurtled through the void, heading at great speed for the blue-green planet.
At the controls sat a green-skinned Krinalli female by the name of Vilydia. She was finally free; not that she had time to relish the fact. She couldn’t afford to divert her attention from the displays on the dashboard in front of her. The trajectory of her approach to the planet had to be exact if she wasn’t to bounce off the atmosphere, back into deep space, or burn up on entry.
The one distraction she allowed herself was an occasional glance at the rear-viewer, to reassure herself no-one was coming after her. So far, so good.
The self-destruct button glowed red above her head. She’d use it if she had to. Having her molecules scattered in deep space would be preferable to her fate if she was caught and taken back to live the life she’d been hatched for. If the worst happens, I pray my soul will enter a male egg next time; so I can be free to study the secrets of the Universe.
Vilydia considered herself lucky, compared to most. If not for her brother, Wurthen, she would never have known there was an alternative. Their father had no idea his son had sympathies with the Female Liberation Movement; that he’d taught Vilydia and her younger sister Suki how to read, opening up a world of knowledge usually forbidden to females. Vilydia soaked it all up like a sponge, and dreamed of escape.
Themes
- Superheroes
- Freedom/Running away
- Females suppressed by society
- Adoption/seeking biological parents
- Belief in reincarnation
- Loss
- Wrongful accusations
- Body image
- Bullying
Reasons not to read it
• Even more blooming superheroes. At least one of them looks weird.
• Apart from one alien, they’re all British, so how can you tell who the bad guy is?
• The man with a British accent living in an old Gothic mansion by himself is not the bad guy.
• The plot spans about three decades. It’s almost a saga!
• One important piece of the story is only revealed towards the end.
• A superhero dies.
• There’s a character who believes in reincarnation.
• A character is accused of using drugs to enhance her athletic performance.
Book club questions
- Loretta’s belief in the continuation of the soul drives her to do some things that defy logic from a human point of view, and even strike her friends as morally questionable madness. Are there parallels here with people who emigrate to other cultures which hold different beliefs and customs?
- What are the parallels and differences between the life Loretta flees from and the life of women in various cultures on Earth?
- Do you think Lizzie really is the reincarnation of Kieran?
- What do you think makes Joan and her friends persecute Rosemary?
- Is Adam right to reject the chance to look normal? Would he have chosen differently had he met Loretta much earlier in the book?
- Lizzie grows up believing she is a cockney from East London, but finds out this was not the case. How would you feel if you suddenly found out everything you believed about yourself and your family was never true?
- Peter and Rosemary were obviously very much in love, but didn’t marry and appeared, in the end, to be no more than close friends and colleagues. Were their reasons for not marrying valid? Would you have done the same in their position?
- What do you think was behind Christopher’s wild spending habits and sudden departure? Was his claim to be a poor farmer true or was something else going on?
Gallery
Julie Howlin Author 