Rebecca Bowyer

Maternal Instinct by Rebecca Bowyer is a near future science fiction novel that examines a future in which the process of having children is highly regulated in Australia. The extreme system could be read as either dystopian or utopian, depending on you point of view, but the plot pushes it towards dystopian.

The two protagonists in this book are Monica, 19 and currently in the breastfeeding for six months portion of her national service, and her biological mother, Alice, who is 40 and just returning to work after time off for cancer treatment. The book alternates between the two women's perspectives, giving us a broad view of the future society. The fact that Alice works for the government department in charge of reproduction and genetic diversity allows us to see a couple of different governmental views on the system. And of course, when things start to go not according to plan, that very same government position is the cause of extra tension.

I found the social worldbuilding presented in this novel interesting but also sort of implausible. All the events that took place in the context of a society where children were raised communally more or less made sense, but I couldn't quite fathom how, in just twenty years, society would get to that point. Also, the book leaned into the horror of having to give up your babies after six months to be raised by professional parents (with biological parents allowed to visit them on Sundays). But for me the more horrific thing was being forced to bear children at 19ish. In the book we see this situation as the status quo, but I cannot imagine that the first set of kids being forced into maternity homes after graduating high school would have gone quietly. On the bright side, young men also had to do baby-related national service with their roles involving doing all the cooking and cleaning for the expectant and young mothers in their maternity homes. That aspect I can get behind. But the rest was a bit off-putting.

Overall, I found aspects of this novel interesting, but found that it was a bit slow to keep me consistently excited about the ideas in it. While the plot definitely engaged with the worldbuilding, it didn't quite go far enough, in some aspects, for my personal tastes. I don't think I've read a dystopian novel where the unusual baby-making practices were due to social pressures only (and not some sort of infertility plague), so it is an interesting concept from that perspective. But of course others might feel differently. I recommend reading this book if the blurb and premise sound interesting.

3.5 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog.… (mer)