The Birth Yard

Sable Ursu has just turned 18, which means she is ready to breed. Within the confines of her world, a patriarchal cult known as the Den, female fertility and sexuality are wholly controlled by Men. In the season they come of age, Sable and her friends Mamie and Dinah are each paired with a Match with the purpose of conceiving a child.

In their second trimester, girls are sent to the Birth Yard, where they are prepared for giving birth and motherhood. Sable is unable to ignore her unease about the pills they are forced to swallow and the punishments they receive for stepping out of line. When her loyalty is questioned and her safety within the Den is threatened, she must rebel against the only life she has ever known.

Mallory Tater weaves an intricate narrative, twisting contemporary social anxieties to dizzying extremes. She meticulously deconstructs the intricate relationships between womanhood, government and the female body. A startling and important debut, The Birth Yard echoes the dark and cautionary classic, The Handmaid’s Tale. But this is no dystopian world; there is no totalitarian government. The Den exists now.