An utterly powerful read. Fantastic characters

This is my first book by Sarah Gailey and I loved her style of writing. Quite futuristic for my liking but I did enjoy it.

Nathan has left his wife, Evelyn for another woman. There are lots of layers to be unwrapped during the novel and it is not just a straight forward read.

The book is also about cloning and Nathan has cloned his wife, but altered for his own self worth. I have never read a book like this before and it made for a refreshing change.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for providing me with an eARC in return for a fair review.

Evelyn Caldwell is a brilliant scientist. Her research into cloning is winning awards, no one can even come close to replicating her work. She should be happy. However, her private life is falling apart, her husband Nathan has been unfaithful and left her for another woman who looks unnervingly familiar...

The first person narrative in this dark thriller gives us an insight into Evelyn's brilliant mind. She holds herself to exacting standards, not just in her work but in every personal interaction. Unfortunately those around her, especially Nathan, can't meet her standards and struggle to keep up with her unfailing drive and ambition. We see the deterioration of a once loving marriage in brief flashbacks of Evelyn's memories, and feel her anguish but also her unwillingness to compromise to satisfy Nathan's desire for her to reduce herself.

There are undercurrents in this novel, different types of abuse and the resulting trauma, the many ways intimate partners can wound each other. Unspoken secrets, poisoning relationships. Sarah Gailey has done a magnificent job here, with not a single false note struck. I was so immersed in this novel I stayed up til midnight to finish it, and in the days since it has been on my mind a lot.

There are explorations of themes such as domestic abuse, the ethics behind cloning & the disposable nature of people made as products.

This was so good! It was a little slow to start, and I kept hoping it would pick up, but when it did it REALLY did.
I'm so glad i had the chance to read this, this was such a well written, interesting story.
all too often with science fiction, they end up trying to go too deep into the science and end up ruining the believability, whereas here i think there was the perfect balance between still being a really clever book but not trying to ham it up.

A little slow/dry at times, The Echo Wife kept me on a knife edge as the mystery slowly unravelled like a strand of DNA.

* 3.5 stars.

When I see a book has comparisons to Westworld, Killing Eve and Orphan Black--to name a few--I am incapable of resisting, and also incapable of stopping myself from having high expectations. I did end up enjoying this book, but through no fault of its own, it did fall a little short of these expectations. The book focused more on the main character's self reflection through the lens of seeing a 'flawless' version of herself, and I did enjoy the exploration of her relationships with her parents and her husband, the latter of which has earned himself a place on my most despised character list. So while this book wasn't the sapphic sci-fi thriller I had imagined it to be, I did still appreciate it and enjoy it nonetheless.

(Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.)

This is a fascinating 'What if' book. What if your husband left you for a clone of yourself, based on your own scientific research? What if the clone accidentally killed him and called you for help?

This book works best as a suspense thriller - how are they going to cover up the death and get away with it?

The answer is sort of right in front of them. Evelyn is a renowned scientist who creates clones that can effectively act as dupes for real people (eg if a body double is needed for a politician). They grow them in tanks and 'condition' the bodies while unconscious to mimic any damage a person has sustained over their lives. They map brains but change things so they are not exactly the same. Somehow, in Evelyn's mind, this makes the clones tools that can be disposed of if they don't work properly or aren't needed any more.

But that was until she got to know Martine, her ex's rather simplified clone of herself. Martine does things that shouldn't be possible. What does that mean for all the clones Evelyn has worked on before?

The novel actually skirts around these questions a little bit, and that's what, for me, made it a success as a suspense, but less so as a science fiction novel. The premise is great, but it requires a bit of hand-waving over the deeper scientific and ethical questions.

I didn't buy that this was a world where clones would ever get past ethics committees in the first place. There was no suggestion that they didn't have brains like regular humans - so regardless of what they were programmed to remember/respond to, how is it no one ever asked 'why don't we treat them like people?' Or 'why are we surprised when they do more than they're programmed to?' After all, human brains are elastic. They adapt to their surroundings.

Martine has a little problem that I won't spoil here, but Evelyn wonders how it came to be, yet doesn't fully explore it or do tests to check out any ramifications. She avoids thinking about some pretty obvious big problems that will occur in the future! There's also not much exploration (or any?) of the idea that if Martine can be an intelligent, unpredictable clone, who's to say there aren't lots of them all over the place already? If Evelyn's ex could clone her without suspicion, surely lots of people could?

Five star suspense, three star SF (which still means I liked it, by the way). An enjoyable, gripping read.

It seems to be quite difficult to get clones right in novel form* but damned if Gailey hasn't done an amazing job, here. She's somehow written a fairytale, about cloning, that is also science fiction and wait, yep, it's also horror and... it's kind of a thriller as well? I couldn't put it down. It's gleefully morbid, the darkest of Gailey's books that I've read so far, and I just loved it.

It's very difficult to say much more without spoilers and I think this is one best gone into as clueless as possible, but I definitely recommend it.



* never not giving you side-eye, Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang.

Oh this is such a good Domestic Thriller with the perfect blend of Sci-fi to keep you on your toes. Sarah Gailey really knows how to world build. First things first lets talk Science. I have made no secret that I am a Scientist and I get picky when science/scientists are portrayed in books and this books science is excellent. I usually find scientists portrayed in two ways, quiet and unobtrusive or insane. Evelyn our main character is neither of these she is nuanced and flawed and human. She engages in small talk, has friends - even if she shuns them. My only gripe is it does perpetuate the - you have to dedicate everything to your work as forgo all life and relationships in order to be successful in science - stereotype which as a research scientist myself, that is fighting against my life must be science and only science mentality, this is slightly harmful view. But this is my only gripe at this book.

The proposed science itself is beautifully crafted, described and believable without being overwhelming to those more interested in the domestic thriller aspects than the science fiction. The characters and there relationships are just as delicately sculpted. There is something so enticing about Evelyn and Martine's relationship as Martine is essentially a tweaked version of Evelyn. There is some real depth to Evelyn's backstory that parallels and plays into Martine's in a really gorgeous. It is just filled with emotional resonance.

I couldn't predict how the plot would play out and the dark depths it would explore. It really builds, taking its time, drawing out the suspense while asking some really deep questions of what it is to be an individual? I think it is an excellent book if you are a Domestic thriller fan or a sci-fi fan alike.

4.5 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2021/02/18/the-echo-wife-by-sarah-gailey/
My Five Word TL:DR Review : A Tardis of a Book!

Yes, this book, much like a Tardis (if such a thing existed) is an absolute wonder. Take roughly 250 pages and convert them into a fascinating and compelling, character driven story that is chillingly calculated, full of surprises and incredibly thought provoking. I simply don’t know how Gailey, did it. There aren’t enough pages here to fit in this amount of story the maths just doesn’t add up. So, yes, think Tardis and prepare to be surprised because once you open the cover to this number, you’re in for a real treat and plenty to explore.

I will keep my summary of the plot to the minimum. Evelyn is an ambitious woman, incredibly intelligent and successful in the scientific field of cloning. Her marriage to Nathan has lost some of it’s sparkle, the long nights and constant work eventually taking their toll and Nathan has ‘sort of’ moved on. By which I mean, he’s stolen his wife’s research to create himself the perfect wife. And, it’s not like he doesn’t love Eveyln, he does, enough to make his new wife a perfect replica just without a few bits and pieces here and there that he found irritating – like her work taking precedence over him for example. His new wife will not be confrontational, she will be the perfect homemaker and she won’t baulk at the idea of starting a family the way Evelyn did. Things are going to be just swell. Except maybe they won’t.

Now, to be fair to other readers I’m not going to elaborate further on the plot because I really do think that would spoil the fun. This is an easy read. Quite simple in many respects. A small cast of characters, a small world view because we pretty much stay within the confines of the the characters’ homes or workplace and some fairly thinly drawn science in a world set in a very close future to our own And, when I say ‘thinly drawn science’ I sincerely mean this as the deepest compliment because I don’t want to be overwhelmed about discussions regarding the whys and wherefores, I just want enough to help me form a picture and move on.

So, in no particular order (because I’m going to let my mind ramble at will) the following elements are what really worked for me.

Firstly, I really enjoyed that the story is told by Evelyn. I like the way she narrates and includes little pieces of childhood memories to help draw a clearer picture of who she really is. To be fair, she’s probably not the most lovable person in some respects. She’s very motivated and hasn’t taken the time over the years to foster other relationships. Basically, she has few relatives and fewer friends Nathan is the only person she has allowed in and so when the two split she has no one else to share her new found success with. But, and you will discover through the childhood memories that she shares, Evelyn has learnt to disguise her feelings, no crying, no apologising, no hysterics here. Instead, she is calm and calculated and perfectly in control.

Martine is not just ‘the other woman’ she’s a perfect copy of Evelyn and she needs help. You could be forgiven for thinking that Evelyn would be disinclined to help Martine in her hour of need, but, Evelyn’s research would be compromised if the sordid details of Nathan’s betrayal were discovered and so instead, Evelyn and Martine work together to find a solution. Martine is a wonderful creation and one of the many levels of deceptiveness within the story. She’s innocent, almost like a small child in terms of her naivety and experience. Created to be a docile ‘yes’ version of the original wife she should have no real agency or control and yet she reacts to events in ways that are unexpected and in fact puzzling in that they simply shouldn’t be possible. She raises a whole new world of questions and theories for Evelyn that warrant further investigation.

I think the pacing is excellent and I loved the way the opening chapters led me completely in the wrong direction. This is so much more than a book about failed relationships and extra marital affairs or divorce It’s about identity, it takes a look at how far a person might go in the pursuit of perfection and whether this might lead them to behave horrendously. It recognises that we are changing all the time, that we’re not the same person today that we were yesterday but at the same time it calls into question how much freedom of choice we really have, are we slowly becoming like our parents, their personalities becoming more obvious little by little. Can we, with the implementation of science truly make changes to a person’s character or will their real nature eventually break free. And, should we even be trying to make such advances? Is cloning ethical – and will it all boil down to the pursuit of perfection?

Basically, this book made me think so many things. Was Evelyn innocent in all this? Certainly reading about some of the practices that took place within the laboratory give me considerable pause for thought on that count. Nathan – well, the true extent of his moral decline eventually becomes shockingly apparent but I couldn’t help thinking that they’d both made hard choices – admittedly for different reasons and also, certainly for Evelyn, in the name of science – but still, very tough calls that maybe should never have been made.

Then there’s all the quirky little extras thrown in that you either pick up on or not – they don’t affect the story so much but I just like them even though I’m sure to have missed plenty along the way. Like Evelyn the first wife and the prototype of Nathan’s machinations – named for Eve?? And, I can’t really give away more but even Nathan’s name plays into later twists in the most ironic way.

I also loved the ending – and this might be me really reading too much into things but were Evelyn and Martine turning into strange versions of Evelyn’s parents?

In terms of criticisms. To be honest, I don’t really have anything except that in terms of the science and the plot you have to suspend your disbelief, a little bit. Don’t try to scrutinise things too minutely, just go with the flow and enjoy the intrigue.

Overall I found this a chilling tale. It’s a very entertaining read on the one hand, and on the other, it’s a story with a message. Once you set foot on the long and winding road of the morally dubious you may set into motion a series of events that become darker and darker with each successive step. Long story short, be careful what you wish for because no matter how good the science may look, nature always finds a way.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

I really enjoyed this book, it was a quick and easy read for me. It was full of twists and turns. Would recommend.

Thanks to Sarah Galley, NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this advance review copy of The Echo Wife.

When you read a lot of thrillers, like I do, it can be hard to find one which still manages to grip you with a unique storyline that hasn't been done a million times before - but The Echo Wife was certainly unique! A fast paced thriller with a slight sci-fi twist!

Evelyn Caldwell is an award winning scientist at the pinnacle of a very successful career. After spending years in her laboratory dedicating her life to researching DNA, she has mastered the art of cloning - providing the ability to clone human bodies for specific scientific purposes. It should be the happiest moment of her life, being celebrated for her achievements as a woman in science, but she is hiding her secret. Her husband has left her. When Evelyn decided that children weren't on her road map, her husband left her for a better and more willing model - LITERALLY a better and more willing model - a clone of Evelyn named Martine.

When Martine reveals she is pregnant it threatens to blow Evelyn's world apart. Not only is her husband expecting a baby with another woman, but he's managed to impregnante a clone - something which shouldn't even be possible and blows huge holes into her research. When her husband ends up dead Evelyn has a choice, either she helps Martine, or she accepts that her career is over.

This book is unsettling, dark and full of twists and unexpected events and kept me hooked throughout.. I could really picture this as a sinister (and perhaps a tad gory!) movie.

4/5

It's more than just a thriller, it's about alienation and the oppression of marriage, and how to free yourself from it. Utterly excellent.

<blockquote>It was one of the things that made my work legal and ethical: each duplicative clone was an island, incapable of reproduction, isolated and, ultimately, disposable. It was bedrock. Clones don't have families. [loc. 468]</blockquote>
<p>Excellent, dark and thought-provoking novel from the author of <a href="http://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2018/02/201805-river-of-teeth-sarah-gailey.html"><i>River of Teeth</i></a> and <a href="http://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2018/02/201806-taste-of-marrow-sarah-gailey.html"><i>Taste of Marrow</i></a>. The first-person narrator of <i>The Echo Wife</i> -- a scientific genius and a woman who has put her career before everything -- is a compelling creation, and the story unfolds as weightily as a Greek tragedy.</p><p>Evelyn Caldwell has devoted her life to perfecting the process of human cloning. She's happiest in the laboratory, though her dedication has cost her her marriage. Nathan, her former husband, was also involved in Evelyn's research, but his work was slapdash and he didn't seem to appreciate how much science meant to his wife. Now he's left her for another woman ... or, rather, for another version of Evelyn herself. Martine, the clone, has been created by Nathan in secret, using Evelyn's research: he's taken shortcuts, and he's made one major variation to the template.</p><p>The cloning technology developed by Evelyn, and especially the mechanisms by which a clone's personality is written into their neurological framework, is described in vague terms: 'how' is not the focus of the story. The description of conditioning, the process of inflicting wounds on a clone to mimic the original's scars and fractures, is more germane, because <i>The Echo Wife</i> is, in part, a novel about the nature/nurture debate. Are humans simply the sum of their genetics and physiology, or are they changed by their environment and their history? The whole cloning industry implies the former, but the clones Evelyn creates are never intended to last for long, or to procreate. They're certainly not supposed to <u>change</u>.</p><p>Evelyn herself is the product of her experiences: a cold, emotionally (and physically?) abusive father, a self-effacing mother, and the tension between them; her marriage to Nathan, and her decision to abort a pregnancy; the long-healed fracture in her wrist. None of those factors should be able to affect Martine -- who didn't get the 'conditioning' that a standard, body-double clone would get -- and Martine should not be able to deviate from the way she's been programmed. Evelyn notes, with distaste, that Nathan designed Martine to need him, and to give him what the original Evelyn couldn't. Does that make Martine a different person? Is she a person at all?</p><p>One of the most interesting aspects of this novel is that it's a first-person narrative told by a complex, and not necessarily sympathetic, character. Evelyn keeps telling us (or herself) that she's not a monster, that she is rational and justified and objective: but she is the sum of her experiences, and the child of her parents. She can't help comparing herself to Martine, but she doesn't want to accept their similarities -- or their differences, which should not exist.</p> <p>The relationship between Evelyn and her clone is claustrophobic, mother/daughter, scientist/subject, abusive and loving. I'm not sure, even after rereading, which of them is the monster, which of them is human; which is the voice and which the echo; which of them has broken free of her conditioning. But I am certain that there are real monsters here.</p>
<p>Thanks to Netgalley for this advance review copy.</p>

I read this in one day, absolutely devoured it.

W O W.

Brilliantly done. Amazing characterisation is the foundation for this book, that and the incredible writing. Definitely one of my top reads of the year so far.

Thanks to the publisher an author as this was a free arc received on goodreads and it was amaze balls!

I loved this quirky little tale .
Nathan has left his wife Evelyn for another woman - well not quite - increasingly unhappy because Evelyn doesn't want children - he decides to create a clone of Evelyn who will be more than happy to have a family with him. However all does not according to plan - Be careful what you wish for Nathan !!
Brilliant

Thank You NetGalley fir an ARC in return for an honest review

I was looking forward to this, particularly based on what appeared to be a plethora of fabulous reviews. Unfortunately, those just made my disappointment greater. Not for me. I struggled with the writing style and found the many plot holes frustrating.

It’s obviously got an audience, but, not one for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

As a big fan of shows like Westworld and Black Mirror, I was very excited to read The Echo Wife, due to the comparisons to both. The Echo Wife explores themes of what it means to be human, and how one is shaped by their life experiences while delivering some dark twists. I found this really interesting and as usual Gailey's writing had me hooked and eager for more.

This story certainly has some interesting characters, if not ones that you feel any real warmth towards. I enjoyed reading from Evelyn's perspective; a cold, clinical and brilliant scientist that you begin to understand as more is revealed about her past.

Though I enjoyed this story I can't help but feel there was something missing for me, perhaps I expected a bit more due to the comparisons to shows like Westworld and Killing Eve (and that I LOVED Magic for Liars). The Echo Wife just did not deliver the action packed, exciting ride I had expected.

However, I absolutely recommend The Echo Wife if you are looking for a slow burn, contemplative, thriller with 'soft' sci-fi elements.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely gobble up anything by Sarah Gailey, and The Echo Wife was no exception. I read it in just under 24 hours, finding it hard to put down. It was deeply unsettling in places, but very intriguing - with contemplation given to the standard fare in cloning tales (what makes a human, how we come to be who we are). Whilst the plot is more medium-paced for a thriller, the intensity is character-driven - their evolution is what propels the reader along through the narrative.
I've seen some comparisons in other reviews to Blake Crouch, who I'm a big fan of - and this definitely gave me that same driving undercurrent of suspense, making this the type of book you want to read in one sitting.
4.5 rounded up to 5.

I find this a deeply unsettling read, but an interesting one. It reminded me of JP Delaney’s work in many ways – a plot that is thick with detail and full of lies and deceptions. Evelyn Caldwell should be enjoying her moment of glory, her career highlight that for which she deserves to be celebrated. But instead, she is preoccupied with thoughts of her husband Nathan who left her for a younger model. As the novel goes on to explain, model is the operative word – but his new partner has something that she shouldn’t. Evelyn, however intelligent, will not be able to predict how she will be thrust into the other woman’s life. I loved how the book starts, almost as if the reader has to catch up – you feel immersed in the plot right from the beginning.

A cautionary tale on what can happen when mankind plays God - or when you make cl0nes and your husband fancies a wife that will do everything for him. The characters are pleasingly unlikeable, the plot twists and turns keeping you on your toes, and some of the reactions of the characters are downright crazy; all in all an interesting sci-fi thriller.

I did have to check it is was a translation - there were times when sentences did not flow or the vocabulary seemed to be off kilter. As far as I can see it is 'American' so maybe it is simply that I am reading it as a Brit. In particular the repeated use of hornet seemed odd, but then I suppose we would use the term 'waspish' for her behaviour, and being a Wasp in the US means a totally different thing.