RE: The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
I chose to read The Gilded Ones because the novel has themes of patriarchy and feminism and because the main character/protagonist is a Black young woman, which is not often the case in most novels and films.
Summary
The Gilded Ones is a story set in the fictional kingdom of Otera, where young women must participate in a blood ritual at sixteen years old to determine their purity. The protagonist, Deka hopes to pass the test of the ritual in order to be accepted by her village and marry; however, her blood runs gold instead of red so she is declared impure and sentenced to death. In her imprisonment she is repeatedly killed but always wakes up alive and healed. A mysterious woman, Deka refers to as “White Hands” ends up coming to the prison to recruit her to train and fight in the army known as “alaki.” During her training, Deka learns more about Otera’s hidden history and forges allies that help her determine whether she will rise up against Otera’s patriarchal rulers or continue fighting on its behalf.
Publication: 2021
Pages: 432
Genre: Fantasy
Notable Awards and Recognition
Redbridge Children’s Book Award, 2022
Waterstones Children’s Book Prize contender, 2022
CILIP Carnegie Medal nomination, 2022
School Library Journal (SLJ) Best Books of the Year, 2021
LoveReading4Kids Book of the Month, March 2021
Translated into multiple languages
Optioned for film and/or TV adaptation
Classroom Considerations
As with any YAL featured in YA Shelf Talk, I think it's important for educators and parents to consider the maturity of their students/children as The Gilded Ones does contain moments of graphic violence ("deathshrieks" killing villagers and soldiers killing "deathshrieks") and mature themes such as oppression, toxic masculinity, and feminism. I'd recommend this book be used with students ages 13+; but more so with students in the 14-16 year old age range to be certain an entire group or class has the capacity to learn from the novel.
Possible Read Aloud Excerpts
"Every girl knows it by heart. We recite it whenever we enter a temple—a constant reminder that women were created to be helpmeets to men, subservient to their desires and commands.
“Are you humble and all the other things, Deka?” Father asks.
I nod. “I think so,” I say.
Uncertainty flickers in his eyes, but he smiles and kisses my forehead. “Then all will be well.”
He returns to his hay. I take my seat before Norla, that worry still niggling at me. After all, there are other ways I resemble Mother that Father does not know about—ways that would make the villagers despise me even more if they ever found out.
I have to make sure I keep them secret. The villagers must never find out.
Never."
~ From chapter 1 (FYI, I listened to this novel via audiobook so finding specific pages has been difficult.)
"In most villages, women can't leave their homes without a man to escort them. Irfut, however, is small, and men are in scarce supply. Most of the eligible ones have joined the army, as Father did when he was younger. A few have even survived the training to become jatu, the emperor's elite guard. I spot a contingent of them lingering at the edges of the square, watchful in their gleaming red armor.
There are at least twelve today, far more than the usual two or three the emperor sends for the winter Ritual. Perhaps it's true what people have been whispering: that more deathshrieks have been breaking through the border this year.
The monsters have been laying siege to Otera's southern border for centuries, but in the past few years, they've gotten much more aggressive. They usually attack near Ritual day, destroying villages and trying to steal away impure girls. Rumor is, impurity makes girls much more delicious... "
~ From chapter 2
“They enrich themselves by your suffering—parasites, quite literally draining the blood from you.”
~ From chapter 3
"The irony of it is laughable. Those deathshrieks did everything they could to rescue me. but i commanded them to leave. thereby dooming myself to that cellar. I was the agent of my own suffering. but perhaps it is better that I experienced that pain. being raised in Irfut taught me what it meant to be a human girl. to believe so deeply in the infinite wisdoms only to eventually be caged in by its never ending commandments and finally betrayed by the horrors of the death mandate. if i am to fight for women--for all women--I have to understand how human girls think. have to have experienced the same pain they did."
~ From chapter 34
Ideas for the classroom
1. Themes of feminism and patriarchy. Students could work in small groups to compare Otera’s system of patriarchy and oppression of women to a real-world example (from history or currently). A Venn Diagram could be used to compare and contrast the two societies.
Guiding Questions could include: How does Otera enforce patriarchy? (e.g. purity rituals, silencing of women--the masks "pure" women must wear) How does Deka's experience reflect societal oppression? What roles do men and women play in maintaining or challenging these systems? How does the novel's story encourage resistance to oppressive systems? What lessons can we apply from the novel to real-world issues?
Building background knowledge of Forna, the author, would be beneficial before beginning discussion. Her inspiration for the story came from her own experiences, other novels/stories, along with real society’s–including our own in the U.S. “I didn’t realise it then, but I wrote The Gilded Ones as a form of catharsis, of holding up the most difficult issues in my life, and examining them from the safe, familiar lens of fantasy. In the book, a group of super-powered women who have been convinced that they are inferior and, in fact, demons by an ultra-patriarchal society, are forced into a war against actual demons to devastating effect. Imagine if the Dora Milaje from Black Panther were stuck in the world of The Handmaid’s Tale, and said 'burn it all down'” (Essay by Namina Forna in Elle Magazine).
2. Cultural Representation. In this lesson suggestion, selected excerpts from The Gilded Ones would be used for students to examine how Forna represents culture, identity, and societal norms through the settings, characters, symbolism, and themes in the novel.
As with suggestion 1, building background knowledge of cultural representation in the media and why it matters would be helpful in sparking interest and connection with the text.
Concluding Remarks
The Gilded Ones is more than just a fantasy novel--it's a bold exploration of the ways patriarchy controls, silences, and fears powerful women. Through Deka's journey, Namina Forna not only critiques oppression but also imagines a world where resistance leads to liberation. This novel is a must-read or companion for any educator who wants their students to analyze feminism in action and question the structures that shape our reality.
References
Forna, N. (2020). The Gilded Ones. Delacorte Press.
Forna, N. (2021, Feb. 4). The Gilded Ones' Author Namina Forna On Fleeing Sierra Leone And Confronting The American Dream. ELLE Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/a35409028/the-gilded-ones-namina-forna/.
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