A Heart of Stone by Renate Dorrestein

A Heart of Stone

Renate Dorrestein

Gripping from first page. There is something unpleasant about to happen, but what and how it is revealed make for a read that stands out from the rest.

Extract
It was Billie who answered my insistent questions and who took a book out of the library for me. The sight of watery embryos with gigantic heads and defencelessly curled spines gave me a terrible attack of claustrophobia. I deemed it highly unlikely that I myself had ever had to survivie that kind of confinement, but it did give me a wicked sense of satisfaction to know that Ida was currently suffocating in there. After I finished the book, Billie, who was waxing her legs, gave me a further oral briefing on the egg and the sperm. Patiently peeling the last of the sticky wax strips off her shins, she added, businesslike, 'And you can also prevent it, with a condom.'
Parallels
  • Wide Open by Nicola Barker
  • Atonement by Ian McEwan