Caryl Lewis is an award-winning Welsh novelist, children's writer, playwright, and screenwriter. Her breakthrough novel, Martha, Jac a Sianco, is widely regarded as a modern classic of Welsh literature and sits on the Welsh curriculum. The film adaptation (with a screenplay by Caryl) won six Welsh BAFTAs and the Spirit of the Festival Award at the Celtic Media Festival. Caryl's other screenwriting work includes BBC/S4C thrillers Hinterland and Hidden, and she's also the author of The Danger of Small Things. She is a visiting lecturer in creative writing at Cardiff University and lives with her family on a farm near Aberystwyth.

"This story presents a social commentary of current times and considers the ability of art to provoke and inspire change. . . . A thoughtful and somber read reminiscent of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, with an environmental crisis backdrop and heavy with important issues."--School Library Journal

"[M]uch of the society in which Jess lives feels like an unsettling extension of current trends, an environmental excuse to strip away all body autonomy from teen girls, ban education and artistic pursuits, and further sharpen divisions of power. The fact that a teen artist with a rebellious streak may be the best hope around is inspiring . . . readers may be left feeling tentatively hopeful by the ending, and a powerful author's note calls on teens to pursue environmental changes where possible and to embrace imagination and art as small revolutionary acts in themselves."--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Lewis's prose is clear and lyrical, rich in metaphor without obscuring the narrative. The pacing is deliberate and the tension, cumulative. While it recalls Atwood's adult novel The Handmaid's Tale in its focus on reproductive control, this novel for a younger audience distinguishes itself through its particular emphasis on art and literacy as tools of survival and change. Powerfully restrained and unsettling."--Horn Book

* "Jess's first-person narration teems with rich, metaphorical imagery . . . . Art emerges as a powerful agent for change and emotional restoration, and shocking reveals add to the suspense. . . . A suspenseful storyline and lyrical narrative voice make this a standout."--Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Pub date: 2026-03-24

Length: 272 pages