In The New One, Evie Green (We Hear Voices) takes readers on a propulsive journey through grief, loss and secrets kept by those we love. This compelling novel will have readers up all night, following the tribulations of a struggling family offered a great gift--or possibly a curse.
Scarlett, the Trelawneys' daughter, was a perfect angel--brilliant, beautiful, sweet, gifted--until she turns 13. She then becomes a terror: lying, staying out late at night, neglecting her schoolwork. In near-future Cornwall, Scarlett's parents, Tamsyn and Ed, are barely surviving in their humble camper. They subsist on stolen cauliflowers and rarely speak to each other (without shouting). Then tragedy strikes: Scarlett is left lying in a hospital bed in a coma, and Tamsyn fears she'll never see her daughter conscious again. Just as their insurance runs out, they receive an offer that seems a mix of magic, miracle and horror: while a company called VitaNova rebuilds their daughter, the comatose Scarlett will receive the finest medical care, and her parents will be granted a fully funded fresh start in Geneva, Switzerland. Scarlett, now named Sophie (her middle name), is part human clone and part AI. She shares Scarlett's memories and gifts, although with the traumatic past year erased, and has been augmented with a better knowledge of French and physics--and a perfect, innocent love for her parents.
The New One is deliciously disturbing, engrossing and surprising at its every turn. This not-to-be-missed novel of family dynamics and what it really means to be human and to love is both pleasurably escapist and thought-provoking. --Julia Kastner, librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia