& 39;A soaring coming-of-age novel. & 39; - THE OBSERVER & 39;Completely fierce unmistakably feminist and subversively funny. When Women Were Dragons brings the heat to misogyny with glorious imagination and talon-sharp prose. & 39; - Bonnie Garmus author of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY In a world where girls and women are taught to be quiet the dragons inside them are about to be set free. In this timely and timeless speculative novel set in 1950s America Kelly Barnhill exposes a world that wants to keep girls and women small - and examines what happens when they rise up. Alex Green is four years old when she first sees a dragon in her next-door neighbour& 39;s garden in the spot where the old lady usually sits. The huge dragon an astonished expression on its face opens its wings and soars away across the rooftops. And Alex doesn& 39;t see the little old lady after that. No one mentions her. It& 39;s as if she& 39;s never existed. Then Alex& 39;s mother disappears and reappears a week later with no explanation as to where she has been. But she is a ghostly shadow of her former self and with scars across her body - wide deep burns as though she had been attacked by a monster who breathed fire. Alex growing from young girl to fiercely independent teenager is desperate for answers but doesn& 39;t get any. Whether anyone likes it or not the Mass Dragoning is coming. Everything is about to change forever. And when it does this too will be unmentionable. Perfect for fans of THE HANDMAID& 39;S TALE VOX and THE POWER. . Language: English