The Echo Wife is very different from the type of books I usually read. The premise sounded a bit domestic suspense-y, so I grabbed it since I love reading thrillers in the winter months. It wasn’t until I glanced at the side of my library copy and saw a little “science fiction” sticker on the spine that I was like, “Wait, what?”
What I got from author Sarah Gailey’s novel was so much more. This domestic thriller/science fiction mashup is brilliant, disturbing, and fascinating.
You may recall that Kait and I reviewed Gailey’s other book, Just Like Home on Dark Side of the Word. I actually picked to read Just Like Home for the podcast because I loved The Echo Wife so much.
What’s The Echo Wife about?
The crux of The Echo Wife hinges around human cloning. We’re not talking amateur Dolly the Sheep type stuff– we’re talking real, holy-shit-it’s-happening HUMAN CLONING.
As in, Hey! Here’s a human! Let’s make a new one that’s exactly the same! More or less, anyway.
The beginning of The Echo Wife was very science-y, as one might expect from a story about cloning. It was a bit much for this English major, but I’m glad I stuck with it. The in-depth science talk dwindles quickly, and what’s left is much more digestible for us right-brained folk. Eventually, you just get so wrapped up in the tension of the story that you just absorb what you can, gloss over the rest, and enjoy the ride. (If you’re a left-brained person, you can just dive right in; the water’s fine for you.)
What I loved about The Echo Wife
The Echo Wife went so many places I didn’t expect, and each one intrigued me greatly. Main characters Evelyn and Martine provoke you to think about the nature of relationships, both romantic and platonic; about the ethics of cloning and – something I never really thought about before — “conditioning the specimens”; and about whether you can truly ever know someone.
Gailey’s novel is emotional, visceral and brave. It’s hard to say too much more about it because it would give so much of the plot away, and I can’t do that. You have to discover this one for yourself.
The Echo Wife was set to be a solid three stars for me, but Gailey’s Author Acknowledgements at the end of the book kicked it over into four-star territory. Reading those Acknowledgements puts a lot of Evelyn’s and Martine’s stories into perspective. Don’t skip this part.
(Spoiler-free) Trigger Warnings for The Echo Wife
There’s a lot of hands-on experimental work happening with the human clones in The Echo Wife, and while it’s fascinating, it’s also vomit-inducing. However, if you’ve gotten through Grady Hendrix’s novels and all that’s detailed in Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, you’ll probably be okay.
And, if you have any emotional and mental abuse triggers, you might want to ease into The Echo Wife slowly. If you made it through My Dark Vanessa, you’ll probably be able to handle this one.
Should you read The Echo Wife?
If you’re looking for a tense, domestic suspense novel that also pushes boundaries about science, medical advancement, and ethics, pick up The Echo Wife, even if you feel this book is outside your reading comfort zone. As I mentioned, I don’t usually read sci-fi, and now Gailey is a must-read author for me. This literary mash up is one of those rare novels that I call a “literary palate cleanser” – just something unexpected and very welcome in my usual TBR.
