"Five women. One question. What is a woman for?"
This book gives us viewpoints from five different characters, although at some point, they intersect, In this story, abortion is once again illegal in America, in-vitro fertilization is banned (because the fertilized eggs have no say in where they are moved) and the Personhood Amendment grants rights of life, liberty and property to every embryo. In a small town, five very different women navigate these new barriers, along with the challenges they face in their own lives.
One of the characters, Ro, is a biographer and interspersed throughout the book are bits from the book she is writing about Eivor, a little-known 19th century polar explorer. So, you have four women in the present time and then you have one woman from the past. I really liked this book and though parts of it were a little strange, I had a hard time putting it down. I thought it was a creative and daring idea to push the envelope with the Personhood Amendment, although it's a great way to take the idea of abortion bans to the very end of limits that can be imagined. I also appreciated that all of the characters are flawed, but they are honestly flawed (i.e. completely believable, even the character who is a herbal healer). Definitely a thought-provoking book that I think would make for some interesting book group discussions.
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