Winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize England is in a state of environmental & economic crisis Under the repressive regime of The Authority citizens have been herded into urban centres & all women of child-bearing age fitted with contraceptive devices A woman known as ' Sister' leaves her oppressive marriage to join an isolated group of women in a remote northern farm at Carhullan where she intends to become a rebel fighter But can she follow their notion of freedom & what it means to fight for it?