Book Review- Sarah Gailey's The Echo Wife

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing me with a free copy of Sarah Gailey’s novel, The Echo Wife, in exchange for an honest review.

Evelyn, a scientist who is a pioneer in the field of cloning, is married to her job. Her dedication and singular focus is so fierce, that she is blindsided when her husband, Nathan, asks for a divorce. Soon after they begin to live separate lives, Evelyn discovers that Nathan, a fellow, albeit somewhat lazy scientist, has been stealing Evelyn’s work for very personal reasons. Nathan has created, Martine, a clone of Evelyn.

Even more shocking, Martine is pregnant, giving Nathan the one thing that Evelyn denied him; a baby. Theoretically, Martine’s pregnancy should be impossible and morally, it is dubious, as Nathan programed Martine to both be compliant and to have strong desires for a baby. Should a clone have the same rights as humans, and if so, does this pregnancy violate Martine’s rights?

The existence of Martine threatens to damage Evelyn’s credibility and research funding. The threat level is dramatically increased when Martine calls Evelyn in desperation, asking for help that only Evelyn can provide. When Evelyn and Martine connect, they begin to unravel the depth of Nathan’s deceit and Evelyn begins to question what it means to be human.

I throughly enjoyed The Echo Wife. Admittedly, early on, I thought, “Oh, I know where this story is going,” but I couldn't have been more wrong. It’s surprising and fresh. Set in the near future, the plot has shades of West World, Black Mirror, The Stepford Wives, Frankenstein, and Ex Machina.

The story is sharp and fast-paced like a thriller, yet it is dotted with questions that make you consider what it means to be human or what is the morality of creating a life? Is a clone life the same as human life and do clones have agency? Should they have agency? When Evelyn is confronted with interacting with a clone in a real world setting, she has difficulty in seeing her life’s work as just science experiments. She is surprised by how Martine interacts with the world, sometimes against her programing.

Gailey’s characters are engaging, especially Evelyn, as The Echo Wife is told from her first-person perspective. Gailey does an excellent job at scene setting, in particular the laboratory scenes where she is describing the process of creating a clone. Several scenes in The Echo Wife are quite graphic and hard to stomach, but they are not gratuitous. They serve to build the greater story and play into the theme of humanity.

I was also surprised to discover that The Echo Wife is a kick-ass feminist story. Evelyn and Martine are strong women. Martine was created to be a sweet, “Stepford Wife” for Nathan, but that is certainly not where she views her destiny. Evelyn, as strong as she is in many ways, also admits a prior weakness for Nathan and a jealousy towards Martine. The arc of the story sees her handling these emotions and learning what it means to be both a better scientist and a better person.

I can’t praise The Echo Wife enough. Gailey is a “new to me” author and I look forward to reading her other books!

Fully Vaccinated!!!

I spent a large chunk of 2020 writing about my pandemic experiences and worries, but in the new year, I have found little new to document. It might also have been a case of wanting to look to the future and hope that 2021 would be a better year.

I spend approximately thirty hours a week tutoring students from around the world, many from Brazil where the virus is still raging. I’m constantly made aware of our lucky situation. Our life has been relatively “new normal” since last July. We wear our masks, stay distant, and I still haven’t been to a movie or a concert, but generally, life has been good. We have traveled and the kids were able to visit us. We socialize with a small group of friends and we have gone to museums, theme parks, and malls. Life only feels a touch restrictive, but certainly a far cry from being stuck at home or living in fear.

I know a few people that have gotten Covid, but thankfully, they have recovered. One was our neighbor, who was hit hard enough to be hospitalized, which was scary. This reminded us to remain vigilant and assured us that we were doing the right thing when we turned down invites to some parties in our neighborhood. Many of my students have lost loved ones, which is heartbreaking.

I’m writing this post to share my news of getting both doses of the Moderna Vaccine!

I never thought that getting a vaccine would be emotional or even warrant sharing the news, but this pandemic has altered lives around the world. It is momentous news.

Getting the vaccine this soon was surprising. I had been expecting to get the first dose in the summer, but all of a sudden, in late March, it was announced that within the week anyone over sixteen would be eligible in Colorado. Next, started a mad dash to secure an appointment.

It wasn’t easy to get an appointment. We struggled to find availability in our area and rather than waiting, my husband had a brilliant idea; Why not drive to a more conservative part of the state, a part of the state where many citizens are anti-vaccine? We choose a City Market pharmacy in New Castle. New Castle is very close to the town of Rifle, where one of Colorado’s more controversial congress members, Lauren Boebert lives. To put it bluntly, Boebert is bat-shit crazy. She is also anti-mask and anti-vaccine. We did notice many signs of support for both Trump and Boebert in Rifle, but to be fair, many of the citizens seemed like perfectly nice people and I’m sure that the town has members from across the political spectrum.

Our suspicions were confirmed, when it wasn’t just easy to get an appointment, but when the pharmacist confirmed that they have more vaccines than they can give away. Sadly, the demand is low. We had no problem getting our vaccines and we were able to enjoy two over-night trips to a stunningly beautiful part of our state. We did have to drive three hours from home.

Here we are after the first vaccine. It was an overwhelming and emotional experience. I felt relieved and grateful.

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We had side-effects with both doses, heavier with the second dose. They lasted about 48 hours ( starting about 4-5 hours after the shot) and they were bad enough to take a day off work to rest. We experienced muscle aches, sore arms at injection site, low-grade fevers, chills and tiredness. We slept a lot. we transformed into cats.

Dan explained the feeling best, by relating it to being in his twenties and playing a rough game of rugby followed by a heavy night of drinking, then having to deal with the consequences the next day. It is more like the worst hangover of your life, than a true illness. It certainly wasn’t bad enough to be an excuse to skip vaccination and obviously better than getting covid.

I’m excited to be protected and very grateful to the scientists who created the Moderna and other vaccines. Also, thankful to Dolly Parton ( and other, likely less famous, donors) who financially supported the vaccine research. I know there is still a long road ahead, but I think there is light at the end of the tunnel. In the meantime, I hope more people decide to get vaccinated and I hope everyone still remains vigilant using the safety protocols that we have developed.

Book Review- Suleika Jaouad's Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group for providing me with a free copy of Suleika Jaouad’s Between Two Kingdom’s: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted, in exchange for an honest review.

During her final year of college, Suleika Jaouad began to experience itchy skin and extreme fatigue. She pushed through, graduated, and headed off to begin her adult life in Paris, where she fell in love with a handsome man named Will.

Just a few months into their relationship, Jaouad’s symptoms worsened and she was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. Within days, Jaouad would leave Paris to be with her family in New York and shortly, Will would also follow her, putting his life on a temporary hold to support his new girlfriend.

At the time of her diagnosis, Jaouad and her loved ones had no idea that the next four years would be a roller coaster of chemo, extended hospital stays, dangerous complications and the imminent possibility of Jaoud not surviving. They did not imagine the toll it would take on their lives, both from a patient and caretaker’s perspective. They also couldn't have imagined the rich and diverse new relationships that would enter their lives or how living at the edge of mortality would dramatically alter their perspectives.

Between Two Kingdoms is a force of a memoir. Jaouad does not hold back from sharing her raw emotions, even when those emotions are messy, such as trying to unpack her break-up with Will, who stood by her side during her treatment. Jaouad acknowledges that caretaker’s need breaks and that Will does need to live his own life, but that doesn’t mean that it’s easy for her to accept. When she is stuck in a hospital bed or sick at home, the jealousy of Will attempting to have experiences of a normal 20-something, threatens their relationship. Fairness is irrelevant.

Jaouad’s “warts and all” approach to her storytelling is what attracted me to her writing. It also made me reflect on my own life, especially when I was a caretaker for family members with health issues, including cancer. When my mom was dying of cancer, her personality shifted dramatically and we had some epic fights. We rarely fought when she was healthy and had a close bond. I was a wreck, having no idea how to process my mom’s terminal diagnosis coupled with this change in her behavior. After reading Jaouad’s memoir, I have a new perspective on the events. Between Two Kingdoms is a must-read for caregivers. It’s not easy and you will cry, I guarantee it, but it will give you a perspective that your loved one might not be able to articulate.

The second half of Between Two Kingdoms turns hopeful. Jaouad might never live without the threat of her cancer returning or needing to be cautious with her compromised immune system, however, her life does return to a sense of normal. Initially, this transition is jarring. Cancer has dramatically changed her priorities or what she thought her life should be. She has lost many friends to cancer, so many relationships cut short. She is grieving for many things and reeling from her break-up with Will. However, while processing her grief, Jaouad starts taking steps to reclaim her life.

She begins to date a childhood friend, Jon Batiste, a musician who would go on to earn fame and acclaim as the musical director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Initially, Jaouad is resistant to forming new relationships, but after embarking on a hundred day cross-country road trip to meet people who connected with her during her treatment, Jaouad begins to drop her walls and chooses to embrace life. She is living fearlessly: camping for the first time, traveling on her own, driving thousands of miles after getting her license for the first time…Jaouad embraces her fears and is an inspiration.

Between Two Kingdoms is a powerful memoir that should be added to your TBR list. Jaouad’s story has left me feeling changed. I feel more attuned to the ordinary aspects of living and I have an urgency to strengthen my relationships. Along with this year of Covid, I feel like Between Two Kingdoms is a reminder to appreciate and embrace life.