Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
It is impossible to add to a classic novel…that of course is a pretentious statement that screams there is no need for change, that the older the book, the more it is sacred and revered, and untouchable.
Books and lies are very much at the forefront of Sandra Newman’s colossal Julia, a work of fiction that lays bare the perspective of the female participant and object of affection and hate of Winston Smith in George Orwell’s 1984, Julia Worthing to the point where the original book is remembered for other reasons, that the boldness of Ms. Newman in her writing as she envelopes Julia into a tale matching Smith’s but taking it further, showing the complete descent of rule and the horrors committed in the role of Government when left to rot in the hands of mad people, liars, and psychopaths.
1984 has been heralded constantly as a warning, one of the most intellectually fulfilling books of the last one hundred years, its relentless reference to the state as a totalitarian beast has become a self-prophecy that others cling to in fear and is used by others to exemplify the inability to fight back, proclaiming that state, the party always wins in the end.
Julia enhances though almost everything written by Orwell, the drama is taken out of the mind and into society itself, the witnessing of those caught in the spider’s web, not just characters who were used as a device originally, but others who bring the narrative to life, who add texture, colour, and insight to the role of Julia as she navigates existence under the rule of Big Brother, as she observes truth whilst herself damning with lies. It is in this life, this living death that the world of an alternative Earth so close to our own in terms of geopolitics and extreme incidents that highlight the modern trend to cancel and rule by omission, that 1984 finally receives its status as a proper blueprint for others to work from, to push the boundaries of the threat so we don’t walk that road any more in the future.
Sandra Newman deserves absolute credit for looking beyond Winston Smith, to show the heroism revealed when the mind is free to finally admit it was wrong in its veneration of a system designed to be a murdering machine.
Julia is incredibly detailed, dramatic to the point of explosion, a brutal and earthy experience for the reader that will leave them with chills running down their spine.
Ian D. Hall