Woman on the Edge of Time

Life for Connie has been a series of unlucky events that successively knocked her lower and lower into poverty, violence and depression, now leaving her afraid and on the edge of sanity. While at a mental hospital she's connected through time to the 22nd century. In this future people still mend the harm humanity has caused the earth, but live happily in small hippy-like communities organised around principles of self realization, sexual freedom and sustainability. Connie has a hard time comparing her present and this utopia, but by spending time with the friends she makes there, she slowly grows more resilient.

Brilliant for its time (written in 1976), and still so resonant today. The types of oppression (sexism, racism, prejudice towards mental illness, the capitalism-driven carelessness of pharmacy/technology) the protagonist Connie experiences in the 70ies are still very much part of our present. I liked how Piercy doesn't spoon-feed you all the connections you can make (while she definitely does spoon-feed you some). The book leaves you with lots of thoughts about injustices generated by systems and also inspiration for a future we could and should want to build.

4.5