As college begins again, sophomore Karen Huls dives into the back-to-school revelry — particularly at Gamma Beta Chi, a favored fraternity. But when Karen wakes up one morning on the lawn of Raghurst, a house of radical feminists, she gets a crash course in the notoriety of GBC — a.k.a. “Gang Bang Central” — and the state of feminist activism on campus from Raghurst ringleader Dyann, who believes she has hit on the perfect way to bring down the fraternity as a symbol of rape culture.

Despite continuing to party at GBC, Karen is seduced by the intellectual stimulation and indomitable spirit of the women at Raghurst and finds herself caught between two increasingly polarized camps. In the headlong rush of youth toward new friends, lovers, and life-altering ideologies, the ensuing war between houses will exact a terrible price.

***

“Stylistically innovative… perfectly captures the self-importance of youth and, simultaneously, nostalgia for the age when everything could mean so much.” — Globe and Mail

“Speaks directly to the present feminist moment. I could not put this book down.” — Darcey Steinke, author of Suicide Blonde and Sister Golden Hair

“The Red Word is a profoundly contemporary take on one of our oldest and most corrosive stories. A fierce and devastatingly timely debut.” — Alissa York, author of The Naturalist

“A timely and nuanced dissection of rape culture.” — Booklist

“The smartest, most provocative novel I’ve read in a long time… as shocking as it is essential.” — Tom Perrotta, author of Little Children and Nine Inches

“Witty and original… a bold new voice in Canadian fiction.” — Helen Humphreys, author of The Evening Chorus

“Henstra draws on Greek mythology to comment on contemporary issues — how assault can take on ambiguity and how the internalization of rape culture convolutes gender politics, to the point where constructive conversation is nearly impossible.”  — The New Yorker

“An aesthetically arresting interrogation of rape culture on campus … Timely and brilliant.” — Kirkus Reviews

“A timely and nuanced dissection of rape culture.” — Booklist

“[A]n incisive campus novel … Henstra portrays Greek life in a harsh light and doesn’t hold back when describing the excessive drunkenness, debauchery, and deplorable misogynistic attitudes at Gamma Beta Chi … the novel raises essential questions surrounding class privilege, rape, and gendered power dynamics on campus.” — Publishers Weekly

“Groundbreaking and provocative, this is an astonishing evisceration of the clichés of sexual politics as they exist not only on our college campuses, but also within broader present-day society. Alternately heartbreaking, funny, and critical, no one gets off easily. The Red Word plumbs the depths of literature, mythology, history, philosophy, and a host of contemporary issues — an utterly effing good read.” — Governor General’s Literary Awards Jury