Hardcover, 176 pages
English language
Published Nov. 23, 2020 by Tor.com.
"That girl's got more wrong notions than a barn owl's got mean looks."
Esther is a stowaway. She's hidden herself away in the Librarian's book wagon in an attempt to escape the marriage her father has arranged for her--a marriage to the man who was previously engaged to her best friend. Her best friend who she was in love with. Her best friend who was just executed for possession of resistance propaganda.
The future American Southwest is full of bandits, fascists, and queer librarian spies on horseback trying to do the right thing.
Content warning overall plot spoilers
My only nitpick is that it feels weird that Esther is being absolutely destroyed by the emotional aftermath of Beatriz's death and her role in it, yet she's immediately drooling over Cye
I liked it. The characters are compelling, and the worldbuilding makes up for the very spare action scenes.
Purchasable
https://audiobookstore.com/audiobooks/upright-women-wanted.aspx.