I’ve sometimes dipped into reading science and philosophy out of a curiosity to better understand the world and the nature of being, but I often find these texts too formal and dry to engage with for very long. So it’s enlivening to read Sophie Ward’s conceptual novel which is a series of interlinked stories each exploring a different thought experiment. These are imaginative devices to contemplate a different hypothesis or unsolvable riddle which provokes questions about the meaning of consciousness, the shape of reality and the limits of perception. Each section dramatizes a classic experiment devised by scientists and intellectuals such as Blaise Pascal, Hilary Putnam and Rene Descartes. The novel literally brings these questions to life while telling a moving tale about a family which spans many decades and imaginatively dips into a variety of perspectives. At the heart of the book is a couple named Rachel and Eliza whose desire to have a child results in a multitude of unforeseen consequences. This is certainly one of the most original pieces of fiction I’ve read in some time. It innovatively manages to be poignant as well as thought provoking.
I was worried at first that this novel might be too cerebral to be emotionally engaging, but I was surprised how engrossed and moved I felt by the stories it contains. Each section adds a piece to the puzzle to give a more complete picture while also expanding the boundaries of that puzzle. This book also does something radical in its portrayal of time as not a fixed thing but something which opens up to possibilities of alternate realities. I also found it refreshing to read fiction which seriously considers the unique challenges and dilemmas faced by a same-sex couple who want to have a child. This novel doesn’t present these issues in a politicised way like in “XX” by Angela Chadwick, but looks at them from different angles. While Rachel and Eliza must contend with personal difficulties they also must balance raising their child alongside the gay couple they’ve conceived with. Though sexuality is a factor, their struggles are more based in the challenges of dealing with death and grief.
As I continued reading this novel one of the great pleasures of the experience was discovering the daring and original places it was prepared to go. I really didn’t expect it’d explore such an audacious range of points of view or cross so many genres. Sections of the novel morph from surrealism to sci-fi in a way that is so compelling and raises many interesting ideas while also bringing the story together as a whole. It’s definitely left me with a lot to think about in a haunting way like a dream. This is a truly imaginative and impressive debut novel!
