Clone

Imagine a new virus: PIV –Parthenogenesis Inducing Virus. The virus causes young women to become pregnant spontaneously, even if still virgins, and without a man.

(Characteristic of parthenogenesis is that the offspring is always identical to the mother. Always daughters, never sons!)

Linda gets pregnant while her husband, Brian, is away on a refresher course. After their daughter Jenny is born, they hope to avoid further pregnancies by living apart. Brian attempts to bring up his daughter on his own, but with Linda's support.

Society changes, many women seek solace in the newly formed 'Church of the blessed Virgin Mothers.' Others try and continue the old ways.

The second part of the novel is largely in the form of Jenny's diary. Fewer and fewer boys are born, but in spite of that Jenny lives a reasonably happy and positive life.

In the third part Jenny starts her career as a tourist bus driver. As she and the tourist guide Martha return the empty bus to the depot, they get trapped by a flooding river in the Waihi Gorge, in the east of New Zealand.. Martha discovers she is pregnant. Even though both are heterosexual, they decide on a 'marriage of friendship;' to give their daughters a two-parent family.

The novel is easy reading. Most of the story takes place in a small New Zealand town, Whangarei, and the area is described unobtrusively but with interesting details..