Chicana Feminist Sci-Fi Novel "Woman on the Edge of Time", First Edition

Marge Piercy

First Edition

[Sci-Fi][Literature][Feminism][Latino and Chicano] Piercy, Marge. Woman on the Edge of Time. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976. First edition. 369 pages. Original red and black cloth-backed boards with gilt spine lettering, in the publisher’s illustrated dust jacket.

This feminist science fiction novel tells the story of Consuelo “Connie” Ramos, a working-class Chicana woman in New York who is institutionalized after defending herself against an abusive relative. Piercy constructs a deeply layered narrative that shifts between the harsh institutional realities of 1970s New York and a utopian future society in the year 2137, one that has abolished gender binaries and capitalist exploitation. As Connie is mentally shuttled between her current confinement and the androgynous commune of Mattapoisett, she becomes both a prophet and a battleground for competing visions of society. This novel is celebrated for its radical critique of systemic racism and gender oppression, and for introducing Latina identity into speculative fiction through a protagonist who is a Chicana woman labeled "insane" by state institutions. It remains one of the most enduring examples of feminist utopian fiction, and is frequently cited in academic discourses on feminist SF and critical race theory. Scholar Gerry Canavan notes that Piercy’s work “offered the most fully realized feminist utopia yet imagined” (Canavan, Los Angeles Review of Books, 2016).

Faint scuffs and small (0.25") tear to top margin of dustjacket rear panel. Binding tight and internally clean. Near fine in very good dust jacket. A foundational work of feminist speculative fiction by American poet and novelist Marge Piercy, and among the first science fiction novels to center a Latina protagonist.

Item #22278

Price: $225.00