Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy is one of those books whose story imprints in your mind, leaving a lasting impression that will change your view of your ordinary world. The book tells the story of a Mexican woman named Consuelo (Connie) Ramos who has been committed for the second time to a psychiatric ward in Bellevue Hospital, which is in 1970’s New York City. Connie suffers a mental breakdown after being severely beaten by her niece’s pimp and admitted to the miserable hospital where it seems she has begun to lose all faith in life until she is visited by a woman from the future who shows her there is more to life.

The first few chapters of the book read like a suspenseful crime drama. Connie, a 37 year old woman who lives alone, is visited by her niece Dolly who was on the run from her boyfriend Geraldo, who was also her pimp. Although Dolly was devoted to Geraldo, she desperately wanted to leave behind a word of prostitution and become a trophy housewife. After throwing out her birth control pills, Dolly found herself pregnant by Geraldo and in a terrible situation. Dolly arrived at Connie’s house extremely bruised, beaten and seeking refuge from Geraldo who was trying to force her into an abortion. When Geraldo arrived with a man who illegally performed abortions at Connie’s house looking for Dolly, all hell broke loose. Connie valiantly defended her niece by breaking Geraldo’s nose with a bottle, however he soon regained strength and quickly began to pound her into unconsciousness.

After Connie regained consciousness, she found herself back in a mental hospital, due to Geraldo and her brother Luis admitting her, and resting on the brink between desperation and insanity. When Connie begins to get visited by a woman from the year 2137 named Luciente, she slowly starts to open her eyes and begin to realize that she loves her life and has something to live for. Luciente shows Connie a world where monetary wealth is not the goal for everyone, every society is built upon a strong love for others and community is key. Despite Connie gradually beginning to enjoy visiting the future and all the colorful people there, scientists from her psychiatric ward start to initiate experiments on patients where they place mini computers in their heads to control their emotions. Frantically, Connie finds herself fighting for her life.

Marge Piercy is a wonderful writer who so beautifully weaves the story of Connie as if it is a long poem. Her style of writing is very unique due to its poetic descriptiveness and it captures readers as it places them in the world that she has created. I enjoyed reading this book, and was so captivated that I could not wait to finish it. The story makes the reader think about the future our society is heading to and the power structures of our world. Is it right that a select few control most of the wealth in the world or is it fair that scientists test experiments on patients without fully thinking of consequences? Those are the questions that this book raised for me. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a good story and also curious about science fiction.