First Born

1981. A different Britain. When Norman Forrester of the Defence Ministry''s Experimental Institute effects a successful fertilisation of a female gorilla with human sperm, an infant is born. Gordon, known as Gor, is his son in two senses. But Gor''s parentage must remain a secret. He has no legal existence as an individual because his existence has never been divulged to the government data bank. In more than one way, Gor is a ''non-person''.

Operated on so that he is capable of speech, Gor grows through boyhood and adolescence into a strong, intelligent youth. When he discovers his true identity, he is devastated by his outcast destiny. But is there the possibility of a home amongst some of the exiles from a computer-dominated class-oriented society? And if Gor can find them, will they accept him?

Maureen Duffy''s novel offers both an enthralling, fast-moving narrative and a vivid parable of the individual''s struggle to win acceptance from his fellows and to overcome the forces that seek to destroy human individuality in any age.