When Women Were Dragons

A Novel

English language

Published May 7, 2022 by Diversified Publishing.

ISBN:
978-0-593-60808-1
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5 stars (1 review)

Learn about the Mass Dragoning of 1955 in which 300,000 women spontaneously transform into dragons...and change the world.

Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours. But this version of 1950's America is characterized by a significant event: The Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales and talons, left a trail of fiery destruction in their path, and took to the skies. Seemingly for good. Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why did Alex's beloved Aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? Alex doesn't know. It's taboo to speak of, even more so than her crush on Sonja, her schoolmate.

Forced into silence, Alex nevertheless must face the consequences of dragons: a mother more protective than ever; a father growing increasingly distant; the upsetting insistence that her aunt never even existed; …

3 editions

Review of 'When Women Were Dragons' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I think this was the fastest I've ever read a book. The chapters are short and punchy in the beginning, each referencing a significant moment in the "authors" life. The book is written as a memoir with scientific journals/court docs/opinion piece in newspapers mixed in between.

I loved the descriptions of knot magic throughout the book as an avid knitter/crocheter/weaver, so that may be what was pulling me through the first half of the book.

I really appreciated that the dragon allegory and society's reaction to it in the book can be applied to several topics outside of the classic 1950's feminism talking points. Yes you can slap the "They're talking about women's periods" onto it and just leave it be, but the book does spend a healthy amount of time talking about the emotional "why" of dragons and if you're looking, it very much isn't a biological thing.

I …