Calgary expat Vivek Shraya's new novel 'The Hystericals' imagines a dystopia of stripped rights
Published September 28, the novel explores a future state where women's rights have been erased—a premise that gained urgency as the real world darkened during its eight-year creation.
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Vivek Shraya began "The Hystericals" in 2018 while touring her memoir "I'm Afraid of Men". Eight years later, the novel arrived September 28 into a world that seemed to have caught up with its bleakest predictions. "The note I got from my editor throughout the years was, 'Your world needs to get bleaker,' because our world kept catching up," Shraya said.
The novel is set in an isolationist state in the near future where women's rights have been systematically stripped away. Femicide has become an epidemic, though the government and media look the other way. The story centers on Sarah Munroe, activist daughter of two state celebrities — her father Graham Munroe, a podcaster advocating for a "natural order" where men and women know their place, and her mother Bernice, a "trad-wife" who advocates the same ideology to protect the family's standing.
After Sarah is raped on campus and her attacker goes unpunished, she goes public with her assault. Eventually she takes the drastic step of publicly ending her own life. Her death kickstarts a radical movement called #Freetoo, in which women "free" themselves in similar fashion. The government's response is to become even more extreme, reclassifying all women as "hystericals" and further clamping down on their rights.
The story unfolds through the eyes of Kennedy, Sarah's younger sister, who struggles with grief, guilt and shame as she becomes immersed in the violence and misogyny that has enveloped the outside world. Throughout the narrative, the reader discovers how women's rights are being stripped away casually — they are not allowed to drive, own businesses, attend university, or live without a "guardian tax."
"I didn't really want to beat readers over the head with the particularities of the world," Shraya said. "I wanted it to be woven in."
The timing of the novel's publication is pointed. Twelve days before it hit shelves, sexual assault allegations involving a 20-year-old woman made headlines when she filed a civil lawsuit against Cornell University, the Chi Pi fraternity and seven accused members, claiming she was raped in 2024. In 2023, Rolling Stone featured Shraya in an article exploring the dangers of being a trans musician touring in the U.S. The #MeToo movement had gone viral when Shraya started the novel; the term "incel" had been around for roughly a decade and was becoming synonymous with misogyny and violence against women.
Shraya will participate in a Wordfest event Sunday at the DJD Dance Centre.
The details
When was 'The Hystericals' published?
'The Hystericals' was published September 28.
What is the novel about?
The novel is set in a near-future isolationist state where women's rights have been systematically stripped away, including the right to drive, own businesses, attend university, or live without a guardian. The story follows Kennedy as she witnesses the violence and misogyny surrounding her sister Sarah's public assault and death, which sparks a radical women's movement called #Freetoo.
When is Vivek Shraya appearing at Wordfest?
Vivek Shraya will participate in a Wordfest event on Sunday, October 18, 2026 at the DJD Dance Centre.
