The New One

Description

A suspenseful, cutting-edge novel about two parents who finally get the daughter they’ve always wanted—it’s too bad she isn’t real. From the author of We Hear Voices.

For Tamsyn and Ed, life is tough. They both work long hours for very little money and come home to their moody, rebellious daughter, Scarlett.
 
After a tragic accident leaves Scarlett comatose and with little chance of recovery, Tamsyn and Ed are out of options until a lifeline emerges in the form of an unusual medical trial. In exchange for the very best treatment for Scarlett, a fully furnished apartment, and a limitless spending account, the family must agree to move to Switzerland and welcome an artificial copy of their daughter into their home.
 
Suddenly their life is transformed. Tamsyn and Ed want for nothing, and the AI replacement, Sophie, makes it feel just like having their daughter back—except without all the bad parts. Sophie is engaged, happy, and actually wants to spend time with her parents.
 
But things take a turn for the worse when Scarlett makes a very real recovery and the family discovers that the forces behind their new life are darker than they ever could have imagined.Evie Green is a pseudonym for a British author who has written professionally for her entire adult life. She lives by the sea in England with her husband, children, and guinea pigs, and loves writing in the very early morning, fueled by coffee.Reader’s Guide
The New One by Evie Green
Discussion Questions:

1. When does a human become a machine? As Sophie says, we start augmenting ourselves as soon as we do something such as wearing glasses. At what point does augmentations make one a different sort of being?

2. To what extent do you think Scarlett and Sophie are the same person?

3. Technology has developed dizzyingly fast in the past half century. I can remember when computers were huge, slow things with flashing
green cursors, and now almost everyone reading this book has a powerful one in their pocket, holding large parts of their life. Should technological progress continue, no matter the human consequences? At what point should we take action to tackle anxiety, radicalization, screen addiction, social alienation and related issues?

4. What do you think would have happened to the family if they had stayed in Cornwall?

5. To what extent do you think it’s acceptable to modify who someone is in order to keep them alive if they haven’t given their consent?

6. Did you empathize more with Scarlett or Sophie?

7. Tamsyn and Ed’s reconciliation is more complex than it initially appears. Did you see that twist coming?

8. How much do you empathize with Ed’s and Tamsyn’s decision- making in Cornwall? What would you have done?

9. If you were to discover that someone in your life was actually a New One, who do you think it would be?

10. What do you think happens after the book’s ending?US