Reviews of Julia by Sandra Newman

Julia

A Novel

by Sandra Newman

Julia by Sandra Newman X
Julia by Sandra Newman
  • Critics' Opinion:

    Readers' Opinion:

  • Published:
    Oct 2023, 400 pages

    Genres

  • Rate this book


Buy This Book

About this Book

Book Summary

An imaginative, feminist, and brilliantly relevant-to-today retelling of Orwell's 1984, from the point of view of Winston Smith's lover, Julia, by critically acclaimed novelist Sandra Newman.

Julia Worthing is a mechanic, working in the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth. It's 1984, and Britain (now called Airstrip One) has long been absorbed into the larger trans-Atlantic nation of Oceania. Oceania has been at war for as long as anyone can remember, and is ruled by an ultra-totalitarian Party, whose leader is a quasi-mythical figure called Big Brother. In short, everything about this world is as it is in Orwell's 1984.

All her life, Julia has known only Oceania, and, until she meets Winston Smith, she has never imagined anything else. She is an ideal citizen: cheerfully cynical, always ready with a bribe, piously repeating every political slogan while believing in nothing. She routinely breaks the rules, but also collaborates with the regime when necessary. Everyone likes Julia.

Then one day she finds herself walking toward Winston Smith in a corridor and impulsively slips him a note, setting in motion the devastating, unforgettable events of the classic story. Julia takes us on a surprising journey through Orwell's now-iconic dystopia, with twists that reveal unexpected sides not only to Julia, but to other familiar figures in the 1984 universe. This unique perspective lays bare our own world in haunting and provocative ways, just as the original did almost seventy-five years ago.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
  1. Overall, what do you think of Julia? (no spoilers in this thread please)
  2. Have you read 1984? How familiar were you with the world of Julia before reading it? What language and concepts had you heard before?
  3. What do you think about Winston and Julia's relationship? Does Winston really love Julia? Does she love him? Do you think love is possible in Oceania?
  4. Place yourself in Oceania. What role do you think you might play? How might you react against, comply with, and cope with the strictures of that society?
  5. Do you see parallels between how we are living now to the world of Orwell's 1984? How about parallels to past world events? If you've read 1984, does Julia introduce different parallels?
  6. Do you think ...
Please be aware that this discussion guide may contain spoilers!

Here are some of the comments posted about Julia.
You can see the full discussion here.


Do you see parallels between how we are living now to the world of Orwell's 1984? How about parallels to past world events? Does "Julia" introduce different parallels to "1984"?
The most frightening parallel is the mounting acceptance of the idea that the government cannot be questioned and that to do so is a "threat to democracy." - Lyris

Do you think surveillance makes us safer? What is the difference between a device like Alexa and the telescreens of 1984? What about closed-circuit television?
I think the current surveillance of social media is particularly dangerous. On the one hand it is used to cancel people who say anything that is currently disapproved, and on the other when someone posts threats to kill someone, nothng seems to be ... - Lyris

Do you think the Spies is an effective tool for achieving the Party's ends? In what ways do we indoctrinate our children today? What is the line between indoctrination and teaching values?
You absolutely teach the children what and how to think. WE all always do. Seeing it given a label such as "Nazi Youth" or "Red Guard" may make us feel like WE don't do that, but we do. Again, to see how easy it is to ... - lesleyf

Have you read "1984"? How familiar were you with the world of "Julia" before reading it? What language and concepts had you heard before?
I read 1984, Handmaid's Tale, Animal Farm and Fahrenheit 451 probably in my 20s, and I think at the time I only saw them as parables, or reflections of what the Soviet Union was doing in the 1950s & 1960s. I remember finding them ... - kimk

How do you think a person's idea of what is factual becomes distorted? Do you feel there's a way we can avoid being manipulated into false views?
The hardest lesson to learn, I think, is that just because you disagree with a person's viewpoint doesn't necessarily make the other person wrong. I feel like some people get so entrenched in their positions that they've lost the ... - kimk

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

Esquire
Newman compellingly expands Orwell's Oceania through a female lens...Packed with sex, surprises, and a shocking plot twist, Julia is a welcome reminder of just how vital Orwell's text still is—and how much fun can be had in its unexplored corners.

The Economist
Offers a female character with a rich inner life...This Julia cannot help but balance out [Orwell's] blind spots and bring his opus up to date.

The Guardian
A fascinating reflection on totalitarianism as refracted through Orwell's times and our own.

The Telegraph (UK)
A masterpiece…Newman's novel is so ingenious, sensitive to the original, and above all witty that one can imagine Orwell thoroughly enjoying it.

Booklist
Brilliant...fresh...Wonderful.

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
In a [clever] retelling of 1984, Winston Smith's lover takes center stage…Book clubs could have great fun reading the two together.

Publishers Weekly
Newman delivers a provocative feminist retelling of George Orwell's 1984...Julia's narrative voice is refreshingly fearless as she navigates her way around the Party's nefarious thought policing, and a wicked plot twist spins the original narrative on its ear. Newman adds a fresh coat of menacing gray to Orwell's gloomy world.

Shelf Awareness
Electrically memorable, Julia is as startling and incendiary as 1984 ever was, with dark humor and pathos commenting on perennially timely questions.

Author Blurb Darcey Steinke, author of Sister Golden Hair
If you thought you knew Julia, as 1984's Manic Pixie Dream Girl, be warned. In Sandra Newman's compelling retelling, Julia has both a conniving agency as well as an escalating and tragic fragmentation. Oceania, Newman insists, has a whole other layer of dystopian horror for its women.

Author Blurb J. Robert Lennon, author of Subdivision and Broken River
This extraordinary novel is like a newly discovered room in your house, in a dream—the illusion is so precise, the execution so masterful, that you think it must have been there all along, just waiting for you to find it. Sandra Newman has succeeded wildly at the impossible task she was given; Julia should surprise and delight not only devotees of Orwell's classic, but fans of Newman's own daring, disquieting, and emotionally affecting oeuvre.

Reader Reviews

Gloria M

Timely Retelling of a Classic
Sandra Newman has written the companion novel to Orwell's "1984".  We never knew we needed this, but in "Julia" so many of our questions are finally answered and we get the feminine perspective on the Party and Big Brother and the authoritarian ...   Read More
Linda O'Donnell

A Julia Retelling
If a retelling of classic novels is in your wheelhouse, Sandra Newman's Julia will not disappoint. It begins simply enough, describing the initial meeting between Julia and Winston Smith, showing her at work in the Fiction department of the Ministry ...   Read More
AniAsw

This book was absolutely fantastic.
Julia is a fantastic book. Julia in 1984 being able to read a possible back story for her along with details of her everyday life was fantastic. We can get a realistic feel for her and her motivations.
Tired Bookreader

Time waster
Very few books have left me wishing I had spent my time doing something else. This book could offer no essential purpose or outcome that would have a person think about it once it was put in the library bin. At least I finished it.

Write your own review!

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked Julia, try these:

Books with similar themes


Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Holiday Sale!

Discover exceptional books
for just $3/month.

Find out more


Award Winners

  • Book Jacket: The Covenant of Water
    The Covenant of Water
    by Abraham Verghese
    BookBrowse Fiction Award 2023

    Along the Malabar Coast of South India in 1900, a 12-year-old girl ...
  • Book Jacket: In Memoriam
    In Memoriam
    by Alice Winn
    BookBrowse Debut Book Award 2023

    Alice Winn's remarkable debut, In Memoriam, opens in 1914 at ...
  • Book Jacket: The Wager
    The Wager
    by David Grann
    BookBrowse Nonfiction Award 2023

    David Grann is a journalist, a staff writer for The New Yorker and...
  • Book Jacket: Remember Us
    Remember Us
    by Jacqueline Woodson
    BookBrowse YA Book Award 2023

    Remember Us is set largely across a single hazy summer of the 1970s in...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
Julia
by Sandra Newman
From critically acclaimed novelist Sandra Newman, a brilliantly relevant retelling of Orwell's 1984 from the point of Smith's lover, Julia.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Alfie and Me
    by Carl Safina

    A moving account of raising, then freeing, an orphaned screech owl. Three starred reviews!

  • Book Jacket

    The Witches at the End of the World
    by Chelsea Iversen

    Two sisters find themselves at odds in this historical fantasy set during a dark Norwegian winter.

Who Said...

Everywhere I go, I am asked if I think the university stifles writers...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.