Jane

A civil servant for an expanding female-only empire is caught up in political machinations in this compelling but odd novel. Jane Brewster, who at age 16 is the youngest-ever fiscal inspector, is sent to audit the finances of popular military hero Capt. Modesty Clay, with whom she immediately falls in love. Their forbidden romance would mean the end of her career—unless she agrees to spy on her superiors for Her Majesty’s secret service. Jane’s entrancing narrative voice introduces readers to a future divided between matriarchal civilization and the “wicked kingdoms” run by men. The technology level feels late-1800s, with the exception of gynogenesis, which allows women to have babies with each other. Channeling the male gaze, these women primarily judge one another by their sexual desirability. Given the formal and slightly archaic language, the occasional current slang is jarring, and Jane is so firmly a part of the setting that the reader never grasps how the world came to be. For a novel about spies, there is remarkably little intrigue or action. Readers will be forced to agree with Jane’s admission that her life is “monstrously dull.” (May)