Girl One
A Novel
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3.8 • 10 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A thrilling tale of sisterhood, secrets, and devastating supernatural abilities in this electrifying novel.
Josephine Morrow is Girl One, the first of nine "Miracle Babies" conceived without male DNA on an experimental commune known as the Homestead. The Girls were raised amid controversy—called aberrations by zealots and their mothers labeled demons—until a devastating fire at the Homestead claimed three lives, scattering the survivors across the nation.
Years later, Josie learns her mother has vanished. She sets off on a desperate road trip to track down the only people who might help: her estranged sisters. Following clues left by her mother, Josie joins forces with two of the Girls. Together they journey through their past, uncovering secrets about their origins and unlocking the shocking scope of their abilities.
Girl One combines the provocative imagination of Naomi Alderman's The Power with the propulsive, cinematic storytelling of a Marvel movie. Sara Flannery Murphy delivers a rousing tale of ambition, power, and the extraordinary bonds of sisterhood in this wildly entertaining speculative thriller.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in an alternate past, this uneven speculative thriller from Murphy (The Possessions) centers on female asexual reproduction and the scientist who made it possible, Joseph Bellinger. In 1994, Josie Morrow, the first child of nine born of this process, believes Bellinger is dead. Then she learns that the house of her mother, Margaret, has burned down and Margaret's gone missing. Journalist Tom Abbott, who was in contact with Margaret, wants to help Josie find her. Josie and Tom have enough information to locate the other mothers and children of Bellinger's experimentation, and together they seek out the others who, along with Josie, discover they have supernatural powers. In an unexpected showdown, much of Josie's twisted past is revealed, and Josie must face her most difficult fears—disappointing a father figure who has shaped her life. Turgid language slows this conceptually rich novel. Hopefully, Murphy will return to form next time.
