An early novel by Rose Macaulay about a government program of compulsory selective breeding in a dystopian future England. In a near-future England, a new government entity—the Ministry of Brains—attempts to stave off idiocracy through a program of compulsory selective breeding.Kitty Grammont, who shares author Rose Macaulay’s own ambivalent attitude, gets involved in the Ministry’s propaganda efforts, which the novel details with an entertaining thoroughness. (The alphabetical caste system dreamed up by Macaulay for her nightmare world would directly influence Aldous Huxley’s 1932 dystopia Brave New World.) But when Kitty falls in love with the Minister for Brains, a man whose genetic shortcomings make a union with her impossible, their illicit affair threatens to topple the government.Because it ridiculed wartime bureaucracy, the planned 1918 publication of What Not was delayed until after the end of World War I.Rose Macaulay was a fascinating and influential British writer, known for her wit and intellect. She wrote numerous novels, essays and biographies, and she was highly regarded for her versatility as a writer. Her works often explored themes of social change, women’s rights and the complexities of human relationships. She had a unique ability to capture the essence of her characters and the world they inhabited, making her a much-admired figure in the literary world.
