Mother of Invention

“It’s refreshing to read about motherhood as stated in its baldest, truest terms, and Tessa’s struggles with the life/work balance are moving and all too real…Tessa’s journey is hard to resist, and the questions raised by the prospect of shorter pregnancies—would they really empower women, or just make it mandatory for them to bear children as quickly as possible?—feel downright prescient.” —The New York Times Book Review What will a mother sacrifice to have it all? Meet Silicon Valley executive Tessa Callahan, a woman passionate about the power of technology to transform women’s lives. Her company’s latest invention, the Seahorse Solution, includes a breakthrough procedure that safely accelerates human pregnancy from nine months to nine weeks, along with other major upgrades to a woman’s experience of early maternity. The inaugural human trial of Seahorse will change the future of motherhood—and it’s Tessa’s job to monitor the first volunteer mothers-to-be. She’ll be their advocate and confidante. She’ll allay their doubts and soothe their anxieties. But when Tessa discovers disturbing truths behind the transformative technology she’s championed, her own fear begins to rock her faith in the Seahorse Solution. With each new secret Tessa uncovers, she realizes that the endgame is too inconceivable to imagine. Caeli Wolfson Widger’s bold and timely novel examines the fraught sacrifices that women make to succeed in both career and family against a backdrop of technological innovation. It’s a story of friendship, risk, betrayal, and redemption—and an unnerving interrogation of a future in which women can engineer their lives as never before.

About the Author :
Caeli Wolfson Widger is the author of the novel Real Happy Family. Her other work has appeared in numerous literary journals, the New York Times Magazine, and Amazon’s Day One and on NPR. Caeli lives with her husband and three children in Santa Monica, California, where she runs a recruiting firm focused on tech start-ups. More about Caeli can be found on her website, www.caeliwidger.com; on Facebook at www.facebook.com/caeliwidgerauthor; or on Twitter at @wolfwidge.

Review :
“It’s refreshing to read about motherhood as stated in its baldest, truest terms, and Tessa’s struggles with the life/work balance are moving and all too real…Tessa’s journey is hard to resist, and the questions raised by the prospect of shorter pregnancies—would they really empower women, or just make it mandatory for them to bear children as quickly as possible? —feel downright prescient.” —The New York Times Book Review “Complicated relationships, imperfect technology, and a semidystopian backstory make this an intriguing read. For fans of Dave Eggers’s The Circle and the novels of Max Barry.” —Library Journal “It’s funny, sad, scary, thoughtful, and essential for anyone who has ever said of a working mother, ‘I don’t know how she does it.’” —The Washington Post “The author takes great care with the plot and the characters, both of which are well written…Themes of morality and conspiracy abound, giving readers much to ponder.” —Booklist “Feminist and bioethical themes threaded through a fast-paced…plot.” —Kirkus Reviews “Gimlet-eyed about the way pregnancy and motherhood can stand in the way of women’s ambitions.” —Electric Literature “Push[es] the boundary of near-future reproductive technology in ways that are mind-bendingly believable.” —Ivory Owl Reviews “Accelerated pregnancy…leads to unexpected consequences + bad behavior + last-minute escapes in this pacey thriller!” —Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale “Supremely entertaining and equally intelligent, Caeli Wolfson Widger’s prescient novel will keep readers up all night turning its pages, enchanted by its heroine. She’s an ambitious biotech game changer who shatters the definition of womanhood as we know it, soaring past the question ‘Can a woman have it all?’ and instead revealing the sacrifices a woman must make in return for her freedom. Mother of Invention is a genre-shattering masterpiece—a thriller, a love story, a cautionary tale, and, like The Handmaid’s Tale, a revolutionary rewriting of our history, and future, as women.” —Julia Fierro, author of The Gypsy Moth Summer and Cutting Teeth “Exuberant and smartly plotted, Widger’s latest novel takes readers to a plausible near future where Silicon Valley and other forces partner for control over women’s reproductive rights, with an unexpected assist from a lauded feminist. Chilling and perceptive—you won’t be able to put it down.” —Courtney Maum, author of Touch and I’m Having So Much Fun Here Without You “Caeli Wolfson Widger’s vision of our reproductive future is smart, original, and provocative—and manages to be a page-turner too. Mother of Invention is a refreshingly of-the-moment novel and is sure to be much talked about.” —Janelle Brown, author of Watch Me Disappear “In Mother of Invention, a provocative and thrilling experiment turns into a profound exploration of what it means to be a parent in this ever-changing world, questioning the very nature of time and our obsession with it. In Tessa Callahan, Caeli Wolfson Widger has created an unforgettable protagonist: at once a feminist powerhouse, a genius, and a vulnerable empath, Tessa is the extraordinary everywoman we need for our generation.” —Elizabeth L. Silver, author of The Execution of Noa P. Singleton and The Tincture of Time