Tierney James, sixteen, struggles to endure the year in which she and other young women are banished to the wild until, purified, the survivors are allowed to return home and marry.

Tierney James, sixteen, struggles to endure the year in which she and other young women are banished to the wild until, purified, the survivors are allowed to return home and marry.

No one speaks of it. It's forbidden. Girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That's why they're banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive. Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life, a society that doesn't pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it's not just the brutal elements they must fear. It's not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for their chance to grab one of the girls in order to make their fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

"In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That's why they're banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive. Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life -- a society that doesn't pit friend against friend or woman against woman -- but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it's not just the brutal elements they must fear. It's not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other"--

"Entre El cuento de la criada y El señor de las moscas, esta narración distópica explora hábilmente la psique de las adolescentes obligadas a vivir en una teocracia represiva. En el condado de Garner, donde está prohibido hablar del "año de gracia", las niñas crecen convencidas de que al alcanzar la adolescencia su piel exhala una potente esencia de juventud que, gracias a sus poderes afrodisíacos, es capaz de seducir a los hombres y matar de celos a las mujeres. A fin de purificar esa magia sin dañar a nadie y poder regresar a casa listas para el matrimonio, las adolescentes son expulsadas del lugar y confinadas en plena naturaleza durante un año. Sin embargo, no todas vuelven... Aunque en el condado de Garner están prohibidos los sueños y cualquier cosa que pueda ofrecer privacidad y esperanza a las chicas, Tierney James, una joven de dieciséis años que está a punto de tener que cumplir su año de gracia y anhela una sociedad libre de disputas entre amigos y entre mujeres, descubrirá que el mayor peligro que deben enfrentar las adolescentes en su situación no radica en la naturaleza salvaje ni en los elementos, ni siquiera en los cazadores furtivos que se dedican a secuestrarlas para hacer una pequeña fortuna en el mercado negro, sino en la rivalidad y el enfrentamiento entre ellas. Con prosa afilada y descarnado realismo, El año de gracia examina las complejas, y a menudo tortuosas, relaciones entre jóvenes y las difíciles decisiones que deben tomar para convertirse en mujeres"-- Between The Handmaid's Tale and Lord of the Flies, this dystopian narrative cleverly explores the psyche of adolescent girls forced to live in a repressive theocracy. In Garner County, where it is forbidden to speak of the "year of grace", girls grow up convinced that when they reach adolescence their skin exhales a powerful essence of youth that, thanks to its aphrodisiac powers, is capable of seducing men and kill women out of jealousy. In order to purify that magic without harming anyone and to be able to return home ready for marriage, the teenagers are expelled from the place and confined in the wild for a year. However, not all of them return ... Although dreams and anything that can offer privacy and hope to girls is prohibited in Garner County, Tierney James, a sixteen-year-old who is about to have her year of grace and yearns for a society free of disputes. Between friends and between women, you will discover that the greatest danger that adolescent girls face in their situation does not lie in the wild or the elements, not even in the poachers who are dedicated to kidnapping them to make a small fortune on the black market. , but in the rivalry and the confrontation between them. With sharp prose and stark realism, The Year of Grace examines the complex, and often tortuous, relationships between young people and the difficult decisions they must make to become women.