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Michelle lives and works on Mars with her husband, Dave Collins, and brother, Phil. Suddenly, she is kidnapped by a powerful group called the Vinyi. She struggles to survive first her confinement by the kidnappers and then the adjustments to an alien environment and language, as well as the knowledge that she is alone without her friends, coworkers, or family from Mars. The new environment consists of a sort of "Kiss, kiss -- slap" existence. After eighty years in suspended animation, she is reanimated and then alternately cared for and tormented by her captors. Michelle becomes friends with some of the Vinyi and truly loves at least one of them, but, all the while, keeps hoping to return home and see Dave and Phil again. Her acculturation amid love, uncertainty, terror, pain, and the threat of death is relatable on many levels.
This story could be an allegory as well as a morality tale for any being's life in most circumstances and time periods. Whatever we face, most of us choose to go on. The ability to adjust to circumstances such as loss, change, grief, pain, cultures, and the willingness to hope, even when loss is inevitable, make it possible for us to survive and enjoy our existence. The author's insights and beautiful prose keep the reader fascinated to the last page. Michelle's experiences as she is exploited by the Vinyi—first, as a living being in need of care, and then as a creature in experiments during which she is a tortured captive who is revived for more experimentation—make us question our own morality towards ourselves and other beings.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review