Description

A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE KITSCHIES RED TENTACLE AWARD 2023

‘Stylish, beautiful and strange’ Jessie Greengrass

As featured on BBC Open Book: ‘poses questions about whether we can love AI and whether AI could love us … I couldn’t help but develop a soft spot for Mother’ — Johny Pitts

Lena has always lived in the jungle with Mother. There they look after a holiday home in surroundings that burst with colour and crawl with danger. Lena’s only other friend is Isabella, who once visited regularly with her wealthy parents and security drone, Anton. But Isabella and her family haven’t been seen in years.

Mother is not like other mothers. She gets angry when Lena draws her with a face. When Lena challenges her to portray herself, she paints a tiny yellow dot surrounded by swirling black. She is a bastion of light, she says, against an army of darkness.

Outside, rebels are fighting to take over the country. Mother is determined nothing will change inside the security fence, nothing to threaten her bond with Lena, or endanger the family. But there are secrets that need to emerge. How did Lena end up here? And what has happened to the family who no longer visit? What has Mother been planning, and what is gathering around them to change their lives forever?

Publisher Review

Insightful and very alive … Pachico’s alternative universe is a world of its own here, animated beyond what is possible in most fiction now * Guardian * An affecting AI mystery * i weekend * A bewildering and compelling novel that explores the tensions between town and country, danger and safety, rich and poor, and above all the human and the non-human… like Lord of the Flies fed through an episode of Black Mirror * Literary Review * Skilfully plotted * Telegraph * ‘Dazling and horrifying – this is Louise Bourgeois’ Maman in a novel for the age of AI. Spectacular punchy prose and big thinking on the emotions of machines. We need writers like Pachico to help us think into the future — Anna Metcalfe, author of Chrysalis Compelling, atmospheric and sultry — Olivia Sudjic, author of Asylum Road The robots are here, and they’re touchy and insecure. At least, that’s so in Julianne Pachico’s brilliant AI mystery, Jungle House. With its remote setting, survival theme, and exploration of the possibilities and limitations of technology, it’s a harmonious counterpoint to Naomi Alderman’s apocalypse thriller, The Future — Madeleine Feeny * the Bookseller, Editor’s Pick * Jungle House is excellent at suspense, constantly weaving terror through beguiling descriptions of the tropical landscape, and delivering well-earned plot twists throughout … A fresh, darkly witty reminder that technology and nature still have some kinks to work out * Strong Words Magazine * One of the most talked-about releases this month and it’s easy to see why … a highly imaginative concept novel for our AI age * The Gloss, Irish Times * Jungle House is extraordinary, a charming and ominous and utterly riveting story that reads partly like a fable, and partly like a premonition of our future — Phil Klay, author of Redeployment Stylish, beautiful and strange, Jungle House looks with clear eyes at the complicated nature of embodiment, at our relationships both to ourselves and to others, and the delicate balance of love — Jessie Greengrass, author of The High House As enchanting as a fairy tale, and equally sinister, Jungle House takes us to the primordial forest and a future where AI manages the every need of a wealthy elite. Pachico’s captivating novel is both a provocative conjuring of a future that’s almost upon us, and a moving exploration of the mother-daughter bond — Victoria Gosling, author of Bliss and Blunder Constantly seems to pose questions about whether we can love AI and whether AI could love us … I couldn’t help but develop a soft spot for Mother — Johny Pitts, author of Afropean Julianne Pachico’s smart plotting means you’re never quite certain what’s going to happen next but you’re left rooting for Mother and Lena, 2023’s unlikeliest literary duo. Intriguing and beautifully written, Jungle House is totally recommended * the Crack * Tense, poignant and atmospheric * the Bookseller, Editor’s Pick * Intense and insightful … a superb imagining on a topical subject matter – one which will leave you questioning developments about the impact of artificial intelligence, and its future * Buzz Magazine * This AI mystery is one to watch … Gripping * Sunday Post * Well written with strong characters … if The Jungle Book was about an abandoned baby girl who was looked after by two robots and an all-seeing, all-hearing and all-knowing “Mother”, instead of a lovable black bear and a grumpy panther * Birmingham Mail * Thought-provoking and hauntingly atmospheric, Pachico’s second novel is a gripping account of unravelling domestic dystopia and a timely reflection on what it means to be human in a world increasingly run by machines * Mail on Sunday * There’s an element of Hal 9000 transported to terra firma in Pachico’s latest … a smart novel that mines fearmongering about the dangers of AI for bleak satire * Irish Times * Praise for Julianne Pachico * : * A millennial’s view of the complexities of Colombia, full of existential angst and funny details … Go to Pachico’s Colombia * The New York Times * Superb * Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble * Pachico is a gripping writer * The Times * Thrilling … remarkably inventive * Atlantic * Pachico lays bare the trauma of life in post-peace Columbia * Ingrid Persaud, author of Love after Love *