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2025 Longlist

The Family Experiment

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ABOUT
THE BOOK

The world’s population is soaring and, in the UK, breaking point has arrived with many people unable to start families let alone raise them. Those desperate to experience parenthood have an alternative. For a monthly subscription fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch who they access via the metaverse and VR headset. To launch their new initiative, Virtual Children has created a reality tv show called ‘The Substitute’, following ten couples as they raise a Virtual Child from birth to eighteen, in a condensed nine-month time period. The prize: the right to keep their virtual child – or risk it all for the chance of a real baby.

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR John
Marrs

John Marrs is an author and former journalist based in Northamptonshire. After spending his career interviewing celebrities from the worlds of television, film and music for numerous national newspapers and magazines, he is now a full-time author. He is the bestselling author of: The One, The Passengers, The Minders, The Marriage Act, What Lies Between Us and When You Disappeared.

John Marrs is an author and former journalist based in Northamptonshire. After spending his career interviewing celebrities from the worlds of television, film and music for numerous national newspapers and magazines, he is now a full-time author. He is the bestselling author of: The One, The Passengers, The Minders, The Marriage Act, What Lies Between Us and When You Disappeared.

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NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS

We feel this particular book does not fit within any usual genre. Based in the same work Marrs’ previous books have introduced us to, it’s set in the very near future and presents a world that is frighteningly plausible. The very personal subject matter makes the reader think about their own morals and values, in relation to others we share the world with. Very though provoking.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Date published
09/05/2024
Country
United Kingdom
Original Language
English
Author
Publisher
Macmillan, Pan Macmillan
Borrow this book from Libraries Ireland

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