The Echo Wife

Last updated
The Echo Wife
The Echo Wife.jpg
Author Sarah Gailey
Cover artistWill Staehle
LanguageEnglish
Genre Science fiction, thriller
Publisher Tor Books
Publication date
February 16, 2021
Publication placeUnited States
Media typeHardcover
Pages256
(1st ed hardcover)
ISBN 9781250174666
(1st ed hardcover)
OCLC 1196822739
813.6
LC Class PS3607.A35943

The Echo Wife is a 2021 science fiction thriller novel by Sarah Gailey, published by Tor Books. It follows Doctor Evelyn Caldwell, an accomplished scientist researching cloning, has discovered that her husband, Nathan, has used her research to create Martine, a clone of Evelyn who is his ideal wife. When Martine kills Nathan in self-defense, Evelyn must assist in covering up the murder.

Contents

Plot

Evelyn Caldwell receives a call from Martine, an identical clone of her created by her husband, Nathan. Nathan cheated on Evelyn with Martine and divorced her soon after. Martine reveals to Evelyn that she is pregnant; Evelyn blames Martine for taking the life she deserved from her. Later, Martine asks Evelyn to come over and ushers her into their house, where she reveals Nathan's dead body, having stabbed him to death with a kitchen knife. Evelyn reluctantly helps Martine bury his corpse and use his DNA to create an identical clone of him to help Martine to take care of their child, although they wipe his memories and make it seem that Martine is Evelyn; they also install a kill switch just in case.

Some time later, Martine calls Evelyn over again and reveals that while digging in the back yard, she discovered the bodies of 12 copies of her; Evelyn realizes that Martine was Nathan's 13th clone and the first success, having murdered the other copies and buried them. Martine aims to use Nathan's clone's kill switch but Evelyn convinces her to use the 12th corpse to fake her death, leaving their child with Nathan before leaving.

Film adaptation

On March 4, 2021, Annapurna Pictures brought the film adaptation rights to the novel with its author Sarah Gailey on board as an executive producer. [1]

Reception

Entertainment Weekly released the first excerpt of The Echo Wife in May 2020. David Canfield called the novel "a trippy domestic thriller which takes the extramarital affair trope in some intriguingly weird new directions." [2]

Foz Meadows said of novel, "Sharply written, disturbing and thought-provoking, The Echo Wife is the kind of book that lingers with you long after you’ve finished reading it." [3]

In a review for Locus , Gary K. Wolfe wrote that "the novel may not offer much that is new, but as a portrait of a character forced to literally confront herself for almost the first time, it’s pretty compelling," and Adrienne Martini wrote that the characters "[make] for a fine allegory but decidedly less satisfying fiction." [4]

In a review for NPR, Jason Heller wrote that "In the book's treatment of cloning, gender dynamics, moral ambiguity, and the lofty idea of the existential nature of identity, it has a passing resemblance to some great contemporary television, including Killing Eve , Orphan Black , Black Mirror , and Westworld ..." [5]

YearAwardCategoryResultRef
2021 Goodreads Choice Award Best Science FictionNominated [6]

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References

  1. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 4, 2021). "Annapurna To Adapt Sarah Gailey's Novel 'The Echo Wife' For Film". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  2. ↑ May 06, David Canfield; EDT, 2020 at 02:00 PM. "This upcoming novel gives the domestic thriller a killer sci-fi twist". EW.com. Retrieved 2023-01-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ Says, Frasersherman (2021-02-28). "Book Review: The Echo Wife, by Sarah Gailey". shattersnipe: malcontent & rainbows. Retrieved 2022-07-24.
  4. ↑ "Gary K. Wolfe and Adrienne Martini Review The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey". Locus Online. 2021-01-30. Retrieved 2022-07-24.
  5. ↑ Heller, Jason (2021-02-17). "'The Echo Wife' Layers Sci-Fi And Murder Mystery For A Twisty Treat". NPR. Retrieved 2022-07-24.
  6. ↑ "Announcing the Goodreads Choice Winner in Best Science Fiction!". Goodreads. Retrieved 2022-07-24.
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