The main story is Wyndham at his best, and an early examination of gender
4 stars
"Consider Her Ways", the longest and by far the best story in this collection, is unforgettable. Wyndham used time travel and its paradoxes repeatedly in his short fiction, and here it's a device to explore a future without men, an imagined society which comes across as a nightmarish dystopia to the the visitor from our time. His depiction of female characters is usually in a different league to his male contemporaries. Here he goes further and writes in the first person. I'm sure he would have consulted his partner Grace in his research, especially for this tale. She was his secret weapon.
Modern readers might recoil at the protagonist's horror to see an all-female future, and consider as redundant her defence of our sex and gender conventions. It would be an interesting exercise to write the same story from the point of view of the future historian who gives an …
"Consider Her Ways", the longest and by far the best story in this collection, is unforgettable. Wyndham used time travel and its paradoxes repeatedly in his short fiction, and here it's a device to explore a future without men, an imagined society which comes across as a nightmarish dystopia to the the visitor from our time. His depiction of female characters is usually in a different league to his male contemporaries. Here he goes further and writes in the first person. I'm sure he would have consulted his partner Grace in his research, especially for this tale. She was his secret weapon.
Modern readers might recoil at the protagonist's horror to see an all-female future, and consider as redundant her defence of our sex and gender conventions. It would be an interesting exercise to write the same story from the point of view of the future historian who gives an alternative take on our romance-poisoned present.
I don't think I'm being too harsh in saying the other stories in this book are for completists only.
