Julia

A Novel

by Sandra Newman

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Pub Date Oct 24 2023 | Archive Date Dec 19 2023

Mariner Books

General Fiction (Adult) | Literary Fiction

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Description

An imaginative, feminist, and brilliantly relevant-to-today retelling of Orwell’s 1984, from the point of view of Winston Smith’s lover, Julia, by critically acclaimed novelist Sandra Newman.

Julia Worthing is a mechanic who works in the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth. It’s 1984, and Britain—now called Airstrip One—has long been absorbed into the larger trans-Atlantic nation of Oceania. Oceania has been at war for as long as anyone can remember, and it is ruled by the ultratotalitarian Party, whose leader is a quasi-mythical figure called Big Brother. In short, it is the world of Orwell’s 1984.

All her life, Julia has known only Oceania, and, until she meets Winston Smith, she has never imagined anything else. She is an ideal citizen: cheerfully cynical, always ready with a bribe, piously repeating every political slogan while believing in nothing. She routinely breaks the rules, but also collaborates with the regime when necessary. Everyone likes Julia.

Then one day she finds herself walking toward Winston Smith in a corridor and impulsively slips him a note, setting in motion the devastating, unforgettable events of the classic story. Julia takes us on a surprising journey through Orwell’s now-iconic dystopia, with twists that reveal unexpected sides not only to Julia, but to other familiar figures in the 1984 universe. This unique perspective lays bare our own world in haunting and provocative ways, just as the original did almost seventy-five years ago.

Julia...

Advance Praise

A PEOPLE Magazine Must-Read Book for Fall 2023

A Guardian Biggest New Book of 2023

A LitHub Most Anticipated Book of 2023

“As George Orwell predicted, Big Brother is indeed watching us, making his classic novel, 1984, ripe for revival. This daring retelling moves Winston Smith to the side and centers his badass girlfriend.”

—PEOPLE Magazine

“Offers a female character with a rich inner life...This Julia cannot help but balance out [Orwell’s] blind spots and bring his opus up to date.”
—The Economist

“In a [clever] retelling of 1984, Winston Smith’s lover takes center stage…Book clubs could have great fun reading the two together.”

—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Brilliant...fresh...Wonderful.”

—Booklist

—Booklist “A provocative feminist retelling...Julia’s narrative voice is refreshingly fearless...Newman adds a fresh coat of menacing gray to Orwell’s gloomy world.”

—Publishers Weekly

"This extraordinary novel is like a newly discovered room in your house, in a dream—the illusion is so precise, the execution so masterful, that you think it must have been there all along, just waiting for you to find it. Sandra Newman has succeeded wildly at the impossible task she was given; JULIA should surprise and delight not only devotees of Orwell’s classic, but fans of Newman’s own daring, disquieting, and emotionally affecting oeuvre.”

—J. Robert Lennon, author of Subdivision and Broken River

“If you thought you knew Julia, as 1984's Manic Pixie Dream Girl, be warned. In Sandra Newman's compelling retelling, Julia has both a conniving agency as well as an escalating and tragic fragmentation. Oceania, Newman insists, has a whole other layer of dystopian horror for its women.”

—Darcey Steinke, author of Sister Golden Hair

A PEOPLE Magazine Must-Read Book for Fall 2023

A Guardian Biggest New Book of 2023

A LitHub Most Anticipated Book of 2023

“As George Orwell predicted, Big Brother is indeed watching us, making his...