The Judas Rose - by Suzette Haden Elgin (Paperback)

About the Book

In the sequel to the feminist classic Native Tongue, a covert female agent is sent to infiltrate the resistance.

Book Synopsis

In this dystopian science fiction classic set in a world where women have no rights, the patriarchy sends a covert female agent to take down the resistance.

In the second entry of the Native Tongue trilogy, the time has come for Láadan--the secret language created to resist an oppressive patriarchy--to empower womankind worldwide. To expand the language's reach, female linguists translate the Bible into Láadan, and a group of Roman Catholic nuns are tasked to spread the language. But when outraged priests detect their sabotage, they send a double agent to infiltrate and destroy the movement from the inside...

Originally published in the 1980s, the Native Tongue trilogy is a classic dystopian tale: a testament to the power of language and women's collective action.

Review Quotes

"Suzette Haden Elgin's Native Tongue trilogy, a classic text of angry feminism, is also an exemplary experiment in speculative fiction, deftly and implacably pursuing both a scientific hypothesis and an ideological hypothesis through all their social, moral, and emotional implications." --Ursula K. Le Guin, author of The Left Hand of Darkness

"Suzette Haden Elgin's Native Tongue. . . records female tribulation in a world where . . . women have no public rights at all. Elgin's heroines do, however, have one set of weapons--words of their own." --Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, The New York Times Book Review

"Native Tongue brings to life not only the possibility of a women's language, but also the rationale for one. . . . [It is] a language that can bring to life concepts men have never needed, have never dreamed of--and thus change the world. Elgin never makes the mistake of easy utopiansim or over-optimism. Her women revel in patience." --Voice Literary Supplement

"Drastically and distinctly, Elgin has carried current fundamentalist views on women to their 'logical' conclusion. . . . Above all she understands that until women find the words and syntax for what they need to say, they will never say it, nor will the world hear it. . . . There isn't a phony or romantic moment here, and the story is absolutely compelling." --Women's Review of Books

"Elgin's novel will inspire those who believe that women's words can change the world." --Marleen S. Barr, author of Lost in Space: Probing Feminist Science Fiction and Beyond

About the Author

Suzette Haden Elgin (born Patricia Anne Wilkins; 1936-2015) was an American science fiction author. She founded the Science Fiction Poetry Association, and was considered an important figure in the field of science fiction constructed languages. Elgin was also a linguist; she published nonfiction, of which the best-known is the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense series.

Rebecca Romney is a rare book dealer and author. In 2017, she published Printer's Error, a subversive history of printed books. She appears regularly as a rare book specialist on the HISTORY Channel. She is the cofounder of the Honey & Wax Prize, a book collecting award for young women. Now settled in Washington, DC, she is the co-founder of the rare book firm Type Punch Matrix.