It’s a particular pleasure today to be joining the blog tour for One, the latest book from the wonderful Eve Smith, and sharing my review. Published by Orenda Books, it’s due out 20th July as an e-book, in paperback and as an audiobook, and available for pre-order via your favourite online or local bookshop. My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for the invitation and support, and to both her and the publishers for my advance reading e-copy.
Eve certainly doesn’t write the kind of books I usually read and review – but my choice of audiobook listening is often rather different, and that’s how I discovered her wonderful debut with Orenda, The Waiting Rooms. You might just have missed my (very) short review, included as part of a round-up – but it was such a gripping story, superbly told, around the antibiotic crisis and its dire consequences for the over-70s in a vividly created near future world (and, I must add, so much more than that!). Her second book, Off Target, might just have been even better – a literary thriller, speculative fiction, a medical drama (and the label hardly matters…) – but such a compelling story, and its moral issues and their human consequences stayed with me for some time (you’ll find my full review here). Eve’s books will now always be on my “must read” list – and her latest was one I was very much looking forward to…
ONE LAW • ONE CHILD • 7 MILLION CRIMES
A catastrophic climate emergency has spawned a one-child policy in the UK, ruthlessly enforced by a totalitarian regime. Compulsory abortion of ‘excess’ pregnancies and mandatory contraceptive implants are now the norm, and families must adhere to strict consumption quotas as the world descends into chaos.
Kai is a 25-year-old ‘baby reaper’, working for the Ministry of Population and Family Planning. If any of her assigned families attempts to exceed their child quota, she ensures they pay the price.
Until, one morning, she discovers that an illegal sibling on her Ministry hit-list is hers. And to protect her parents from severe penalties, she must secretly investigate before anyone else finds out.
Kai’s hunt for her forbidden sister unearths much more than a dark family secret. As she stumbles across a series of heinous crimes perpetrated by the people she trusted most, she makes a devastating discovery that could bring down the government… and tear her family apart.
There are so many elements that contribute to making this book so much more than a futuristic environmental thriller – it really is frighteningly plausible, rooted in today’s realities, the world of government interference in people’s lives, and a disturbing vision of the possible future. It’s a thoroughly gripping read – after reading into the early hours, I lost most of the following morning too, compelled to read to the end – but also an unexpectedly emotional story about families and relationships, and that moved it into a zone I’m far more used to and comfortable with.
Climate change has had a devastating impact worldwide, with extensive migration from the regions suffering the worst environmental damage – a particular issue for the UK, where large areas have been laid waste by the flood waters, and the remaining limited resources are being managed by the controls introduced by the government led by the One party. There are food quotas, travel restrictions – but perhaps the most hard-hitting has been the strictly enforced one child policy, with both compulsory contraceptive implants and termination where limits are exceeded. Kai works for the Ministry of Populations and Family Planning, policing the policy, with an unshakeable belief that the course the government have taken is the right and only option. Until she discovers she has a sister, setting out to find her, hoping to protect her parents from the consequences – only to find that Senka is a leader in the anti-establishment movement, Free, and her eyes are slowly opened to the corruption of the regime she’s part of.
But enough of the storytelling – instead I need to tell you why I loved this book so much. The world-building is astonishing in its detail, a stunning (and particularly frightening) vision of the possible future that I could entirely believe in – and all the more so because it’s so firmly rooted in the present day realities of environmental damage, reduced reproductive rights, population control and approaches (some of them uncomfortably familiar) to reducing immigration. Then there’s the characterisation – the way Kai’s beliefs are challenged by the gradual uncovering of the hidden horrors behind the world she believes in, the strength she manages to find to mount her own challenge. But Senka too is fascinating – difficult to like at first, but growing increasingly sympathetic, her hard shell the result of the experiences of her upbringing. The relationships too are quite wonderfully drawn – between the two sisters, but also the one with their parents as the reasons for their transgression are slowly made clear.
The story itself, its concept and the way it’s told, is absolutely compelling – filled with tension and drama, tremendously gripping – but also the product of an extraordinary imagination, her vision of the future both terrifying and entirely believable. But this is also a very human story, emotionally involving, with individuals you really grow to care about, but set in a world where humanity has been forgotten – and I thought it was simply wonderful. Without question, one of my books of the year – and one I’d urge everyone to read.
About the author
Eve Smith writes speculative thrillers, mainly about the things that scare her. Longlisted for the Not the Booker Prize and described by Waterstones as ‘an exciting new voice in crime fiction’, Eve’s debut novel, The Waiting Rooms, set in the aftermath of an antibiotic resistance crisis, was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize First Novel Award and was a Book of the Month in the Guardian, who compared her writing to Michael Crichton’s. It was followed by Off Target, about a world where genetic engineering of children is routine.
Eve’s previous job at an environmental charity took her to research projects across Asia, Africa and the Americas, and she has an ongoing passion for wild creatures, wild science and far-flung places. She lives in Oxfordshire with her family.
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Thanks for the blog tour support x