Book of the Month - March: Salvage

By Alexandra Duncan

Seventeen year old Ava was born and raised in deep space, on a merchant ship called the Parastrata. The culture of her ship is conservative and patriarchal. Women have babies, cook, clean, and work with textiles and animals. Men are leaders who take multiple wives, act as guards, fixers and flyers and are allowed to travel between the space ship and Earth.  Ava has never known anything beyond the Parastrata and as the captain’s daughter, or “so girl”, she is obedient and accepting of the rules – usually.

When she is sent to a neighbouring ship to be married, she makes a huge mistake the night before her wedding and is sentenced to death in the Void. Utilizing her natural aptitude for “fixes” and problem solving, she narrowly escapes to the Earth below, leaving behind everyone and everything she has ever loved.

Landing on Gyre, a floating trash pile on Earth, she is astounded to learn that women are capable of more than she ever imagined. Ava learns both figuratively and literally how to stand on her own two feet. Her new found freedom ignites her brave and adventurous spirit, brings forth unexpected friends, a secret family…and maybe even love again.

This unique feminist science fiction story was right up my alley, and the character development was great. Check it out!