The Cloning of Joanna May (Paperback, Reissue)

The deceptively lightsome and airy voice of the English satirist/fabulist/feminist (The Hearts and Lives of Men, 1988, etc.) sounds a variety of doomlets here concerning the lethal relationship between the sexes. Along the way, there are a reading of peak-to-peak hostilities, a modicum of sci-fi hi-tech, creative cosmology, and a shuffle of Tarot card symbols. The female principal, Joanna May, aged 60, is also the Female Principle - all guilt and helplessness in the face of ex-husband Carl May, mega-exec of this-and-that, including two nuclear power stations (from which there was "only the occasional release of unscheduled radioactivity"). Carl, whose tender childhood was spent chained in a kennel, is a monster and murderer (he will have Joanna's two lovers and her dogs expunged); and, in fact, one of Carl's major nasties took place 30 years ago - when, to "multiply Joanna's love for him," he arranged for a dandy operation by which (thanks to a "parthenogenesis plus implantation") four clones of Joanna were produced (without her knowledge) and born to four different women. Before Joanna meets her clones - the Four Queens of the Tarot: Jane the intellect, Julie the bored housewife, Gina the battered wife and mother, and Alice the sensualist - Carl refreshes himself with bimbette Bethany and comforts Britain after Chernobyl ("Children may safely drink milk, though sheep may no longer graze on the uplands"), while Joanna comes to the conclusion that "the truth is many, not one." Many, indeed: when clones and Joanna meet, the soul is multiplied but "female guilt is quartered." Carl gets his at last, but is remade under the supervision of the cleareyed clones. Although this tends to be top heavy with invention at times, still Weldon's wit and sass keep the pace and chilly amusements jouncing on. (Kirkus Reviews)

An astonishing novel that probes into the strange world of genetic engineering. Joanna May thought herself unique, indivisible - until one day, to her hideous shock, she discovered herself to be five: though childless she was a mother; though an only child she was surrounded by sisters young enough to be her daughers - Jane, Julie, Gina and Alice, the clones of Joanna May. How will they withstand the shock of first meeting? And what of the avenging Carl, Joanna's former husband and the clones' creator: will he take revenge for his wife's infidelity and destroy her sisters one by one? In this astonishing novel, Fay Weldon weaves a web of paradox quite awesome in its cunning. Probing into the strange world of genetic engineering, The Cloning of Joanna May raises frightening questions about our identity as individuals - and provides some startling answers. Funny, serious, revolutionary, this is the work of a master storyteller at the height of her powers.

General

Imprint:	Flamingo
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	October 1995
Authors:	Fay Weldon
Dimensions:	198 x 129 x 19mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - B-format
Pages:	272
Edition:	Reissue
ISBN-13:	978-0-00-654593-4
Categories:	Books > Fiction > General & literary fiction > Modern fiction
LSN:	0-00-654593-9
Barcode:	9780006545934

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!