The Ministry of Manners

This is a cleverly thought out dystopian story imagining what the world could be like with no freedom or privacy and an authoritarian regime controls every part of your life.

Society has broken down in the world due to a lack of manners, courtesy and respect. The Ministry of Manners now controls every aspect of daily life. All spoken and written communication is monitored and life has become a performance for the authorities.

The story follows quiet and well-behaved Alfie, his older sister Margot, who has rebellion in her heart, and their parents, who both work in minor roles for the Ministry. Then rumours surface about The Unsilenced – a group of rebels who are challenging the Ministry with disruptive acts and we hear of The Harmoniser – an AI system built to reshape human behaviour and render people hollow, passive and obedient. To Alfie’s horror, Margot’s resistance flags her to the Ministry and she is taken to a Manners Retreat for personality recalibration, and Dad turns out to be the Harmoniser project leader.

This would be wonderful read-aloud with tense plot moments interspersed with humour, and a set up for a sequel at the end. There’s even a section at the back to explain how a collapsing society had led to a takeover by The Ministry of Manners.