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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Domestic abuse
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A few feet away from me, the blanket wrapped around Nathan's corpse collected the water, a soaking dew that would have ruined the quilt, even if it hadn't been for the dead man leaking blood into the cotton.
The Echo Wife had an absolutely insane premise. Evelyn Caldwell is a brilliant scientist, whose marriage with her husband has imploded in the most tawdry way possible - an extramarital affair, with the subject of Evelyn's research. Nathan had just about broken every ethical boundary possible when he had stolen her work to create Evelyn's genetically identical clone, who has her appearance but a docile personality, in contrast to Evelyn's absolute perfectionism and assertiveness. And Evelyn hadn't been able to spot the signs until it was far too late (not that her marriage with Nathan had been worth salvaging towards the end). The cherry on top of the icing is that Martine, her clone, has become pregnant:
"No," I snapped, as impatient with her as I ever got with the incompetent assistants I'd run through before Seyed. "You don't understand. Nathan could go to prison. I could go to prison. This is - this is highly unethical, this is illegal, this is -"
"A miracle," Martine said. Her smile was beatific. She was glowing. I wanted to incinerate her.
"No," I hissed, looking around the room. "You can't be pregnant. Clones can't get pregnant."
Martine smoothed her blouse over her belly again. "It would seem," she said, her smile fading, "that we can."
Embittered by all the secrets that she now has to keep due to Nathan's infidelity and child, Evelyn snaps at Martine. And that could very well have been the end of the contact between the two women, except that Martine confronts Nathan and Nathan ends up dead. From that point onwards, the story only gets twistier as Evelyn takes charge of the situation to not only hide Nathan's murder but to hide Martine's very own existence.
There are plenty of twists that I didn't see coming and I also enjoyed the science-fiction element of it; where science has advanced enough that we can map out people's personalities and then input them into clones.
Spoiler
Who would've thought that Evelyn could've decided that the best way to hide Nathan's murder was to create his clone? And then to release him into the world, letting him believe that he's really Nathan? While it should also have been obvious that Martine couldn't have been the only clone, since Nathan must've experimented with others before he finally found a satisfactory version, I also didn't see this coming.Along the way, Nathan and Evelyn's history are interspersed throughout her narrative - from her recollection of how they met, to when Nathan gradually grew to resent his intelligent but cold wife, up to the point where he'd basically decided that it was simpler to replace her. We also see parts of Evelyn's child, to explain how she became the cold, somewhat unfeeling woman that she's become.
I've given the book a middle-of-the-road rating because I wished that it had grappled a little more with the ethical consequences of what Evelyn had done. Furthermore, the ending felt a little rushed and uneven to me.
Spoiler
In some ways, it was inevitable that Evelyn and Martine would end up living with each other, especially once we've established that Martine is more than competent research assistant for Evelyn, especially since her previous assistant had betrayed her trust not only by stealing equipment for profit but by also helping Nathan to create Martine. However, it felt like the last quarter didn't quite build this up properly before we reach this part of the book.
The Echo Wife is a beautifully-written story about an ambitious scientist who is betrayed by her husband and, in some ways, by her own life's work.
Evelyn just won a prestigious scientific award for her work in cloning, and her professional life is as good as it can get. Her personal life, less so. Her husband, Nathan, stole and used her own research against her to create a clone that he named Martine. He plans to marry Martine, a more docile, agreeable, lab-generated, clone copy of Evelyn. No one knows Martine exists (apart from Evelyn) and her existence must remain a secret while Evelyn deals with the ramifications.
The story touches on themes of identity, philosophical ideas and ethics (when does a lab specimen become a person?), and struggles to determine when do the ends justify the means? I was thoroughly engrossed in this compelling story with distinct, fully-fleshed out characters, and highly recommend this book.
Evelyn just won a prestigious scientific award for her work in cloning, and her professional life is as good as it can get. Her personal life, less so. Her husband, Nathan, stole and used her own research against her to create a clone that he named Martine. He plans to marry Martine, a more docile, agreeable, lab-generated, clone copy of Evelyn. No one knows Martine exists (apart from Evelyn) and her existence must remain a secret while Evelyn deals with the ramifications.
The story touches on themes of identity, philosophical ideas and ethics (when does a lab specimen become a person?), and struggles to determine when do the ends justify the means? I was thoroughly engrossed in this compelling story with distinct, fully-fleshed out characters, and highly recommend this book.
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Super interesting, brings up so many questions about ethics. Also the husband is
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Brutal and captivating until the very end.
I love how Gailey explores dysfunction throughout their novel, interrogating the very nature of "purpose in life." Because Gailey's such a skilled writer, you could enjoy the novel as an immensely satisfying tale of one of sci-fi's time-honored tropes, the increasingly autonomous clone (seriously, this was my very literal beach read this week, and I devoured it sitting in the sand!). But if you read the engaging plot alongside Gailey's deft metaphors for broken relationships, self-doubt/acceptance, and the care we owe one another, you'll be rewarded with an even richer narrative experience.
I love how Gailey explores dysfunction throughout their novel, interrogating the very nature of "purpose in life." Because Gailey's such a skilled writer, you could enjoy the novel as an immensely satisfying tale of one of sci-fi's time-honored tropes, the increasingly autonomous clone (seriously, this was my very literal beach read this week, and I devoured it sitting in the sand!). But if you read the engaging plot alongside Gailey's deft metaphors for broken relationships, self-doubt/acceptance, and the care we owe one another, you'll be rewarded with an even richer narrative experience.