Vincent, Lawrence, and William are identical 13-year-old triplets and are the last boys living in a government-supported orphanage, where they are watched by three women, Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon, and Mother Night. The mothers administer medicine to protect them from “the bug” and keep track of all dreams and bad behavior in the Book of Dreams and Book of Guilt. The boys are promised that enough good behavior and recuperation from the bug will earn them entry to bucolic seaside resort, Margate. The boys know they’re different, especially when residents of the nearby village practically run in the other direction the few times they venture in. As the Mothers attempt to socialize them, the true nature of the government’s program begin to coalesce. Meanwhile, we meet Nancy, a sheltered tween, who is somehow connected to the boys, and the Minister of Loneliness, who has been charged with winding down the program.
This dystopia-adjacent speculative exploration of nature vs. nurture and “mother knows best” mentality really stuck with me. Chidgey deftly creates such an acute sense of uneasiness. How do you come of age when coming of age has been constricted? The boys are taught their lessons via the Book of Knowledge, and we are left wondering where are the moral limits when it comes to the pursuit of knowledge?
5 out of 5 stars.
Pair with: a grasshopper
Peaches to Apples 