The Sisterhood: Big Brother is watching. But they won't see her coming.

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In this highly original take on Orwell's 1984- the Big Brother of all dystopian classics - Bradley weaves a complex and engaging plot around the idea of a female resistance to oppressive overlords. Oppressive and creepy, but with real heart' A. K. TURNER, author of Body Language

Orwell wrote six novels, three classic works of non-fiction, and more than a million words of journalism, but in IP terms everything else is dwarfed by the twin peaks of his career: Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm. They are two very different books with a shared political agenda. First Orwell explained the rise of Soviet totalitarianism in the form of a farmyard allegory; four years later, he used dystopian science fiction to anatomise the methods of an all-powerful totalitarian state. One was a lesson from the recent past; the other a warning to the future. For as long as regimes seek to distort reality and suppress liberty, these books will have anxious readers. Clare Wright: “We are firmly in an era where the idea of women’s voice, women’s perspective and women’s truth is at the front of the cultural and political agenda.″⁣ Credit: Susan Papazian Fast-paced and suspenseful…The Sisterhood’s greatest gift, however, may be in its message of hope, capable of surmounting even the most formidable of odds and the most uncertain of futures’ – Katherine J. Chen

Julia thinks that she has identified a member of The Brotherhood. Yet the closer she gets to Winston Smith the more Julia’s past catches up with her. No further details to avoid spoilers. I wonder if employing the comfort of a story that’s already known as a jumping-off point to explore contemporary ideas makes contemporary debates more accessible,” she adds, “offering readers an easier way in to discussing today’s politics – particularly the politics of being a woman.”

Sadly, The Sisterhood failed to provide any further meaningful insight to the world of 1984. By failing to sidestep the imposing shadow of the Orwell work, it struggled to emphasise its own originality or necessity. When Julia thinks she's found a potential member of The Brotherhood, it seems like their goal might finally be in their grasp. But as she gets closer to Winston Smith, Julia's past starts to catch up with her and we soon realise that she has many more secrets than we'd first imagined - and that overthrowing Big Brother might cost her everything - but if you have nothing left to lose then you don't mind playing the game . . . Overall, I found ‘The Sisterhood’ an engaging read and feel that with it Katherine Bradley has created a worthy companion to ‘1984’ that honours the original yet is willing to expand on the source material to both explore the experiences of women in the society and to propose how change might come about. Katherine Armstrong, deputy publishing director for adult fiction, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Jane Gregory and Stephanie Glencross at David Higham Associates to the novel, alongside a second title. The Sisterhood will publish in March 2023. Julia's story is divided into two parts, the past and the present, both ultimately converging to produce an ending that goes out with a bang.It is difficult for any writer to attempt to write a counterpart to a novel as renown as 1984, but unfortunately, in my opinion, I do not think Bradley hits the mark here.

I just think that the fun of writing is the thinking, but it’s also important to stay faithful to 1984. I've read it many, many times, so it was about going with that text and looking for those clues that may be Orwell alluded to or didn't cover, and if there was a point where he may be equivocated on something, maybe choosing to also do the same, but just trying to follow the text. Trying to obviously use one's imagination and just think, well, how would we operate? In such circumstances, I always remember talking to a Russian woman, and she told me how her grandmother stored her Bible under the floorboards. This idea that if she was found under Stalin's regime with a Bible, how dangerous that would be. People do find ways of communicating, of being themselves. And it takes great creativity for people under that level of surveillance to survive. Katherine Bradley has delivered a worthy counterpart to George Orwell's 1984 in this chilling, taut book. It's as claustrophobic as it needs to be; particularly frightening as one looks around and sees that we are voluntarily moving towards Orwell's nightmare. It is nothing short of a triumph' MARA TIMON Bradley worked for many years managing services for people in prisons, mental health hospitals and those without fixed abode. She currently works in education and holds a first-class degree in English literature, in addition to qualifications in creative writing and teaching. As Kate Bradley, she has published two suspense thrillers. Katherine Bradley has delivered a worthy counterpart to George Orwell's 1984 in this chilling, taut book. It's as claustrophobic as it needs to be; particularly frightening as one looks around and sees that we are voluntarily moving towards Orwell's nightmare. It is nothing short of a triumph." - Mara Timonby George Orwell led readers into the chillingly claustrophobic dystopian world of Oceania and remains to this day one of the most well-known novels. I'm a massive George Orwell fan, obviously, and 1984 didn't need retelling as a standalone book. It's fabulous, I've read it many times. I'm an English teacher, I teach it as well. But I noticed, on the latest reading, that Julia's a very silent character. She hasn't got a surname, for example. It's not clear what she does for a job. But I did become interested in Julia, and during the novel, it's really clear that everybody knows about this mysterious organization, The Brotherhood. So, you don't have to read 1984 to read The Sisterhood as it's about other people who are also looking for The Brotherhood. Obviously, there are tyrannous regimes around the world at the moment, and I think how they land on women is often very different than how they land on men. So, I thought that was why it might be worth having an exploratory look at how it lands on women, how it lands on this quite a silent character, Julia, and just taking one character and then seeing what she was up to.’ A gut-wrenching, heart-breaking journey through the looking glass of 1984. Compulsively written, Julia’s is a story begging to be told’ – Freya Berry

In recent years, these reassessments have been seen across every form of media. On the stage, there was SIX, a girl-power reimagining of the six Tudor queens who were married to Henry VIII; Emilia, inspired by the 17th century poet and revolutionist Emilia Bassano, who was rumoured to have been the Dark Lady of Shakespeare’s sonnets and possible author of some of his poems; and MTC’s Cyrano, which retells Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac as a female-led queer love story.Sinister, chilling and heart-breaking, it’s a worthy successor to Orwell’s dystopian classic, allowing readers to explore a new version of Julia’s story' Katherine Bradley has delivered a worthy counterpart to George Orwell's 1984 in this chilling, taut book. It's as claustrophobic as it needs to be; particularly frightening as one looks around and sees that we are voluntarily moving towards Orwell's nightmare. It is nothing short of a triumph' MARA TIMON, author of City of Spies We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed. For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin.