The conqueror's child

Suzy McKee Charnas returns to the Holdfast a quarter century after Walk to the End of the World, bringing her long-running saga to a close. The novel is the last installment of the Holdfast series, which follows a society in which men hold women in servitude.

The Fems, enslaved by the men of the Holdfast, are the book's central people. Alldera escaped that bondage and led a group of rebels to found a community run by women. Now her daughter Sorrel arrives to join her, bringing a young boy she has taken in as her adopted son.

The Conqueror's Child traces the wider history of the Holdfast, following its characters through a long conflict between the sexes that is shaped by both love and hostility. It suits readers who have followed the series from the beginning, though it is written to be read as a conclusion to that larger story.