The We and the They is a tale of survival, trust, betrayal, grief, loss, and trauma. In a futuristic world ravaged by devastating calamities, The We–a group of young people–find themselves confounded by hunger and struggling to survive. When another community called the They arrive with an offer of luxurious meals and secure shelter at their farm; the We find the proposal too good to let it go. But things are not as they seem on the surface.
In her debut novel, Author Kyra Dawkins offers a rich and compelling story built on oral histories. She’s a gifted writer and the story is a compelling one. Writes Prairies Review,
“Despite the slender size of the novel, Dawkins’s dystopian world is lavishly developed and her characters fully realized. Her economical prose is lyrical as she captures the feeling and essence of collective storytelling in an oral tradition.”
Dawkins was inspired by the power of oral stories and offers a unique view of that construct in the book — her use of simplistic constructs further highlights the rich characters you’ll meet in her book.
This story is in the tradition of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and offers a compelling view into what might happen to us if we don’t take care of each other. It also celebrates the power that comes from people working together for their collective good.
About the Author
Inspired by the stories her grandfather told her, Kyra Ann Dawkins is no stranger to writing. Having published in many papers, she graduated with highest honors from Phillips Exeter Academy and from Columbia University in the City of New York where she majored in Medicine, Literature, and Society. After graduating, she noticed an intense pressure to construct her identity. A champion of oral tradition, she wrote her debut book, The We and the They, to create a narrative space where readers could escape the limits of individuality and experience a story as a member of a new collective. Kyra enjoys The Twilight Zone and is a huge Mickey Mouse fan. When she isn’t visiting museums, you can often find her annoying her younger siblings. You can peruse the penned traces of her winding mind on her website.