The Judas Rose

Originally published in the 1980s, the Native Tongue trilogy is a classic dystopian tale: a testament to the power of language and women's collective action. In the second book of the series, a covert female agent is sent to break up the resistance.

In the second volume of the Native Tongue trilogy, the time has come for L adan--the secret language created to resist an oppressive patriarchy--to empower womankind worldwide. To expand the language's reach, female linguists translate the Bible into L adan, and a group of Roman Catholic nuns are tasked to spread the language. But when outraged priests detect their sabotage, they send a double agent to infiltrate and destroy the movement from the inside.

"This angry feminist text is also an exemplary experiment in speculative fiction, deftly and implacably pursuing both a scientific hypothesis and an ideological hypothesis through all their social, moral, and emotional implications." --Ursula K. Le Guin

"A pioneering feminist experiment." --Literary Hub

A welcome reminder of the feminist legacies of science fiction. . . . Explores the power of speech, agency, and subversion in a work that is as gripping, troubling, and meaningful today as it has ever been. --Publishers Weekly (starred review)