book club

In When She Woke by Hillary Jordan, we’re introduced to a world in which extremism and religious fundamentalism rule and our protagonist, Hannah Payne, has been sentenced to 16 years of “chroming” or skin colouring for the crime of having had an abortion.

As Hillary Jordan’s When She Woke opens, heroine Hannah Payne finds herself incarcerated in solitary confinement after an unusual punishment. It seems she has to wait 30 days before she is released — but, of course, there’s more to the sentence, and her story, than that…

Her first book, Coventry, was a number-one national bestseller and among the Globe and Mail Top 100 Books of the Year; three of her five previous novels have been named New York Times Notable Books of the Year.

Chatelaine editor's pick: Growing up is all about firsts. This endearing story of 12-year-old Jack tells of his first time falling in love and his first steps into adulthood

Chatelaine editor's pick: Boy meets girl. Boy loves girl. But girl loves another boy. A classic love triangle, but will it have a classic ending?