The Echo Wife starts out with us meeting Evelyn, a scientist, and leader in her area. She develops human clones (it’s never specifically said why, but alluded to for helping the real humans medically or in other ways.) She has recently separated from her husband, who (behind her back) used her own research to create a more docile clone of herself. They had been having some issues in their marriage (he had an inferiority complex, and she didn’t want to have kids, to name a few) and so he just went out and created his own perfect woman. Less feisty than the real Evelyn, and programmed to follow directions. AND…. Evelyn quickly finds out that her clone, Martine, is pregnant (which should not have been able to happen, as clones are not “supposed” to be able to become pregnant).
Evelyn and Martine meet a few times, and Evelyn attempts to be nice. She knows that Martine’s existence is not her own fault, so she attempts to have some restraint in their interactions. After one of their last (and as Evelyn thought, final) interactions, she gets a frantic phone call from Martine. After Evelyn rushes to Martine’s house, she finds the husband dead. He had attempted to kill Martine, and she defended herself, killing him instead. He appears to have gone off the deep end when Martine questioned something he said (which went against her programming) and it seemed better for him to just get rid of her.
The rest of the book is Evelyn helping Martine to first cover up, and then REALLY cover up the death of their husband. The book itself is really interesting, in a science fiction kind of way. There are many scientific theories and talk in the book, plus some moral issues that some people may have difficulty with (for example, discarding human clones when science is done with them.) It may not be for those who have problems with things like that, or for the squeamish (as many procedures are discussed in the book.)
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was just different enough to be really interesting, and incorporated a healthy dose of science with the science fiction. I really enjoyed the concept, and the end result. It was not your typical domestic thriller, but could certainly be classified in that broad genre. I would recommend this book to those who are interested in science-y books, or just a change of pace from the typical thriller that is out right now.
Evelyn and Martine meet a few times, and Evelyn attempts to be nice. She knows that Martine’s existence is not her own fault, so she attempts to have some restraint in their interactions. After one of their last (and as Evelyn thought, final) interactions, she gets a frantic phone call from Martine. After Evelyn rushes to Martine’s house, she finds the husband dead. He had attempted to kill Martine, and she defended herself, killing him instead. He appears to have gone off the deep end when Martine questioned something he said (which went against her programming) and it seemed better for him to just get rid of her.
The rest of the book is Evelyn helping Martine to first cover up, and then REALLY cover up the death of their husband. The book itself is really interesting, in a science fiction kind of way. There are many scientific theories and talk in the book, plus some moral issues that some people may have difficulty with (for example, discarding human clones when science is done with them.) It may not be for those who have problems with things like that, or for the squeamish (as many procedures are discussed in the book.)
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was just different enough to be really interesting, and incorporated a healthy dose of science with the science fiction. I really enjoyed the concept, and the end result. It was not your typical domestic thriller, but could certainly be classified in that broad genre. I would recommend this book to those who are interested in science-y books, or just a change of pace from the typical thriller that is out right now.