The premise of The Power is fairly straightforward: one day women spontaneously manifest the ability to produce electricity. Only women have the Power, and the story follows a cast of characters from all walks of life as a new social order emerges from the resulting tumult.
Except that's not quite true. The Power, written by Naomi Alderman, is a fictional exchange between the character Naomi (a writer) and her friend, the character Neil Adam Armon (a writer in the Men's Writing Association). It opens with a brief exchange of letters between Naomi and Neil, where he states that he has given her his latest manuscript to review. It is "not quite history, not quite a novel. A sort of 'novelization' of what archaeologists agree is the most plausible narrative." We are then treated to the manuscript of his book, The Power, which recounts a version of the events 5,000 years prior that lead to the downfall of human civilization and of what is implied to be a new bronze age. It starts when women spontaneously manifest the ability to produce electricity from a new organ near their neck.
There's quite a lot to talk about, but before we get into it a disclaimer: The Power depicts sexual violence in detail, against both men and women, and though I will try to keep the descriptions at a distance I will be quoting directly from a few of the relevant scenes. I feel this is necessary to show that the work's depictions of this violence are problematic. If you want my general thoughts on it, skip to the conclusion.
The work intends, quite blatantly, to satirize and critique the structure of modern-day patriarchy by putting women in the place of men; thus shining a light on the harmful attitudes and actions that have been normalized in our current society. The opening and closing letters between Niel and Naomi do this quite successfully. After Naomi reads his work she states that she "has some questions," and proceeds to be condescending and dismissive of many of the points Neil raises. The irony in her statements is quite clear: "I feel... that a world run by men would be more kind, more gentle, more loving and naturally nurturing. Have you thought on the evolutionary psychology of it?" Naomi ignores or dismisses most of his rebukes, implies he is being too "sensitive," and even ends her last response with the suggestion that he publish "under a woman's name" in order to break out of "men's literature." It is simple, familiar, and effectively enraging satire of the attitudes women face in reality.
Yet this framing is quickly forgotten once the actual story in The Power begins. The line between Neil and the real author Naomi Alderman is blurry; though supposedly 5,000 years and a nuclear cataclysm removed from our modern day, pop-culture references abound in Neil's The Power. There are explicit mentions of YouTube, CNN, Fox News, a reference to the Wesboro Baptist Church. Real world locations and political realities are replicated, such as woman in Saudi Arabia being unable to drive (a reference already outdated), toxic internet culture, the dialect of London mobsters, etc. There is no attempt to imagine what an actual "novelization" of an alternate history might be—Neil's accuracy implies he has perfect access to all information about the culture and political landscape he is depicting; which he does because Naomi Alderman does. The two authors often become indistinguishable in terms of their perspectives.
This would not be an issue if the satire in the actual story were as effective (or perhaps focused is a better word) as the closing letters, but what could have been a visceral and scathing examination of women's oppression is undone by confused philosophy, generally bland writing, and a tendency to replicate problematic tropes without actually offering any critique.
