Description

Winner of the Arthur C Clarke Award 2012
Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2011

Women are dying in their millions.
Some blame scientists, some see the hand of God. As she watches her world collapsing, Jessie Lamb decides she wants to make her life count.

Would you let your daughter die if it would save the human race?

The Testament of Jessie Lamb is the story of one daughter’s heroism and one father’s love.

Publisher Review

You'll be blown away by this. * * Independent * * By far the most moving of all the 138 [Booker] entries. -- Chris Mullin * * Evening Standard * * A dark, powerful and disturbing story asking difficult questions about science, sex, and survival. * * Michele Roberts * * Like The Handmaid's Tale colliding with Children Of Men. * * Herald * * Jane Rogers has captured Jessie's voice brilliantly, alternating a teenager's solipsism with a growing awareness of the wider world . . . The reader is torn between her clear, unequivocal conclusions and the intricate, heartfelt compromises of her parents. * * TLS * * The scary thing about this novel is that the questions it raises are so close to home . . . The novel does not set up an elaborate apocalypse, but astringently strips away the smears hiding the apocalypses we really face. Like Jessie's, it is a small, calm voice of reason in a nonsensical world. * * Independent * * Marvellous. * * Daily Mail * * Based on a premise so terrifyingly plausible you're half-afraid the book might fall into the hands of some ruthless bio-terrorists with the keys to an IVF lab...Rogers brilliantly characterises the self-centred logic of an obstreperous teenager -- Alfred Hickling * * Guardian * * This is an Atwoodian exploration of new technologies and implications for womankind -- Emma Hagestadt * * Independent * * Terrifyingly plausible . . . a well-written and thought provoking read . . . This is what good science fiction should be: smart, realistic, engaging * * Curious Book Fans * *