When We Were Dragons

A rollicking feminist tale set in 1950s America where thousands of women have spontaneously transformed into dragons, exploding notions of a woman’s place in the world and expanding minds about accepting others for who they really are.

The first adult novel by the Newbery award-winning author of The Girl Who Drank the Moon.

Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours, except for its most seminal event: the Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales, and talons; left a trail of fiery destruction in their path; and took to the skies. Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why did Alex’s beloved aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? Alex doesn’t know. It’s taboo to speak of.

Forced into silence, Alex nevertheless must face the consequences of this astonishing event: a mother more protective than ever; an absentee father; the upsetting insistence that her aunt never even existed; and watching her beloved cousin Bea become dangerously obsessed with the forbidden.

In this timely and timeless speculative novel, award-winning author Kelly Barnhill boldly explores rage, memory, and the tyranny of forced limitations. When Women Were Dragons exposes a world that wants to keep women small—their lives and their prospects—and examines what happens when they rise en masse and take up the space they deserve.

My Verdict

The writing in this book is just stunning. The only magical element in the story is the existence of dragons, which fits seamlessly into the themes of the history. The use of the McCarthy Hearings and the Civil Rights Movement are especially notable.

The book is hard to read, because many unfair and cruel things happen to Alex and to other women in the book, mostly the mundane cruelties, both systemic and individual, that were experienced by women (especially LGBTQIA women and women of color) in the 1950’s – 1970’s in America. The story is filled with loss and struggle and frustration and heartbreak. However, this is also a book full of liberation, found family, creativity, acceptance, and joy. I find it difficult to articulate how powerful this book was in depicting women’s rage and women’s liberations, and also in depicting multiple different paths to liberation. It also talks about the cost of survival in a hostile society and the many ways that women and marginalized people are forced to make themselves small and silent:

Anger is a funny thing. And it does funny things to us when we keep it inside. I encourage you to consider a question: who benefits, my dear, when you force yourself to not feel angry?

I really enjoyed this book. I especially loved Alex's character. As she grows up, Alex comes across as a real, complicated, admirable, flawed human being. I longed for her to thrive. As painful as much of this book was, I loved the ending and the many, many moments of grace and freedom that appeared all throughout the story. I also loved the unexpectedness of the story, which allows for more than one path to be valid. I give this book 4.5 stars.