The Hystericals

From the bestselling author of I’m Afraid of Men comes a propulsive and chilling novel for the post-#MeToo era, set in an isolationist state where one woman’s death sparks a movement that could liberate women or destroy them all.

When Sarah Munroe is sexually assaulted on her university campus and her attacker walks free, she makes a devastating choice: she publicly takes her own life in a final act of defiance against a regime that has stripped women of their rights.

Her final message ignites a radical movement called #FreeToo. Soon, masses of women are taking up “Sarah’s Call” and “freeing” themselves as extreme acts of protest. As these deaths multiply across the state, the government declares the movement a contagion. Overnight, all women are reclassified as “hystericals.” 

Forced into a new reality where her very existence is criminalized, Sarah’s sister, Kennedy, struggles with her own grief, guilt, and anger. And as the regime tightens its grip, she will have to reckon with her sister’s legacy—and decide whether to surrender or survive.