by BuffaloGirlKS (Wright, KS): Imagine the surveillance of George Orwell’s 1984 and the subjugation of women in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and then throw in androids and you have Jessamine Chan’s unbelievably potent novel.

Ms. Chan’s descriptions of the trials and tribulations, difficulties and exhilarations of caring for an infant and toddler are outstanding. She captures the rewards and punishments exactly. I came to know the characters as well as the people in my life that I am close to; perhaps even more so because the author took me deep into their thoughts and feelings. The novel was easy to follow even though it moved back and forth from the mother in question’s current situation to the previous stages of her life. The moves were fluid and not at all confusing.

The only small issue that I had with the book was that there is little relief within the book from the anxiety and concern that it produces. I did feel the main character’s and the other mothers’ love and longing for their children, but the dark wit that reviewers on the back cover mentioned wasn’t enough to part the overcast feeling for just a little while. Still, I couldn’t put the book down.

This debut novel is one of the most thought-provoking books that I have read in the past several years and I heartily recommend it.

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