An Intelligent, Deep, and Affecting Read: The U.S. Review of Books Recommends Karen East’s Novel

Karen East’s dystopian novel ‘Sanctuary’ has earned a starred recommendation from the U.S. Review of Books.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 10th Sep 2026 - Reviewer Philip Zozzaro praised the novel as “an intelligent, deep, and affecting read that gives off 1984 vibes but adds a twenty-first-century touch that is disturbingly apt.” The novel follows Janet Ryan, a newspaper reporter living in a near-future America ruled by fear, where news is sensationalized, history is redacted, and the environment itself has become dangerous. Janet’s world changes when her parents reveal plans to flee the country. Her father, an architect who once helped design the government’s system of walled-off neighborhoods, has turned fifty-five—the age at which the state considers citizens obsolete and sends them to a retirement community that serves as a testing ground.

Reeling from the news, Janet reconnects with an old friend who introduces her to an underground group seeking to recover the country’s “unvarnished history.” Her search leads her to a reservation and to conversations with elders, including Rachel, known as Old Woman, whose perspective challenges the naivete Zozzaro identifies in Janet. Meanwhile, Homeland Security has tracked her.

Zozzaro highlights the tension between Janet’s awakening and the Homeland Security agents monitoring her as a major source of suspense, writing that “the semi-inconspicuous machinations of Homeland Security agents, suspicious of Janet’s behavior, add a layer of intrigue and suspense to the story.” He also notes the novel’s willingness to confront Janet with history, citing “fraught moments when Janet is judged for the sins of the past” that force her to “look inward.”

Sanctuary brings its dystopian world into focus through sector-based neighborhoods, pervasive surveillance, and an elderly population quietly discarded by the state. Janet’s search for truth also connects with the dystopian literature her mother introduced her to as a child, including Fahrenheit 451 and 1984, while the novel explores questions of history, accountability, and political power.

Karen East draws on her own professional experience in shaping the novel. A retired marriage and family therapist, she spent nineteen years working with American Indian tribes across the Midwest, an experience that informs the novel’s depiction of reservation life and the elders Janet encounters. She lives in northern Wisconsin.

Sanctuary is available through Amazon and other major online bookstores. The full review is available to read on the U.S. Review of Books website. 

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