In a city devastated by an epidemic, where survivors are all missing partsโan arm, a leg, an eyeโNell has always been an outsider. Her father is the famed scientist who created the biomechanical limbs that everyone now uses. But sheโs the only one with her machinery on the inside: her heart. Since the childhood operation, she has ticked. Like a clock, like a bomb. And as her community rebuilds, everyone is expected to contribute to the societyโs good . . . but how can Nell live up to her fatherโs revolutionary ideas when she has none of her own?ย
Then she finds a lost mannequinโs hand while salvaging on the beach, and inspiration strikes. Can Nell build her own companion in a world that fears advanced technology? The deeper she sinks into this plan, the more she learns about her cityโand her father, who is hiding secret experiments of his own.ย
Sarah Maria Griffinโs haunting literary debut will entrance fans of Patrick Nessโs Chaos Walking series, Paolo Bacigalupiโs Ship Breaker, and Emily St. John Mandelโs Station Eleven.
Sarah Maria Griffin lives in Dublin, Ireland, in a small red brick house by the sea, with her husband and cat. She writes about monsters, growing up, and everything those two things have in common. This is her first novel. You can visit her at www.sarahgriff.com.
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