Outlawed by Anna North

genre: historical fiction, alternative history

In a fictionalized Old West, Ada marries young, but that's the way of things.  After the great Flu, children became so precious that girls, from the time they can understand, know that having babies fast and early is the only way to claim true womanhood.  And what happens to those who CAN'T have children?  Or, in crazier cases, those who don't want to?  They can be run out of town, put in the stocks or tried as a witch.  Barrenness is a curse and you do not want it. 

When Ada has to deal with her own inability to become pregnant, instead of sticking around to get hung as a witch or living life sequestered in a convent - she decides to become an outlaw.  The Hole in the Wall Gang, a notorious band of thieves, lives out in the wilderness but what they lack in civilities they make up for with freedom in spades.  This group of childless women lives the sort of rough Wild West life you'd imagine, but when their leader comes up with a crazy idea to help them change their stars, Ada has to decide if the risks are worth it - or if she could find a better way out on her own.

Woah.  I had no idea what this book was about and it did NOT go where I thought it would!  It has a Handmaid's Tale/the Crucible/alternate universe Little House on the Prairie vibe to it, which worked well enough.   I liked Ada's skillset, her knowledge of birthing and midwifery, her desires to help people. It makes you think about how many people in this world have so much to offer but they are unable to because of poverty or because of the random rules a society makes for itself.  There is a lot of gender fluidity in this book, some talk of mental illness before it was truly understand and much about loyalty and the consequences of our choices.  

I liked it, I did.  It read quick and was interesting, I really do like alternative history stories.  It wasn't always super believable, I had to stretch my imagination sometimes but then again, the world building was solid enough that I could imagine Ada's life and the hard path she had to take in a world where fertility was the most important - and most uncontrollable - thing.