In New America, 2095, women have been liberated from childbirth, and natural pregnancy is expressly forbidden. Individuals are no longer classified by biological sex, but by their inherent nature: Manx are ambitious and logical while Femina are sensitive, communicative, and nurturing.
By all measures, thirty-three-year-old Manx Aureole Agnor is living the dream. She has a meteoric career as head of the nation's defense and intelligence command; she is a celebrated pugilist, she enjoys a high standing in society; she has a loving husband and growing son. Yet when she meets a young, pregnant woman who has been arrested for breaking the law banning natural births, she gives into her longing to experience pregnancy and childbirth herself. Forming an alliance with the underground Red Dawn Movement, Aureole secretly plots to conceive herself.
Eighty-four-year-old Femina Aurora Alvia Agnor, known to her family as Mommy Grand, is Aureole's grandmother. She reared Aureole as a daughter, and she firmly believes in the nation's founding principles of science and rejects the "Old Ways" of human reproduction. As one of New America's most prominent and beloved matriarchs, her life is upended when Aureole goes missing. When the truth of Aureole's plans come to light, she's faced with an impossible choice: stand firmly with the beliefs of her nation or protect her daughter and unborn grandchild.
As authorities close in, mother and daughter are forced to face the deep cracks in their relationship, as well as the fissures in the philosophical pillars of their nation. As Aureole and her child's life hang in the balance, will she renounce her allegiance to human reproduction as practiced in the "Old Ways", or will she decide that The Interchange is truly best for the nation's--and humanity's--survival?
The Interchange fits neatly in the sub-genre of humanist science fiction. Its character driven plot and progression of contemporary issues (e.g., gender parity, feminism, maternal attachment, surrogacy, scientific apotheosis, climate upheaval, and social order) encourage readers to envision how facets of life today might evolve in the future.
About the Author
John Steven Welch grew up in Washington, D.C. and currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland. He loves reading fiction, staying abreast of current events and politics, and taking long walks. His debut work, The One Who's Gonna See You Through (2023), is available on Amazon and other retail outlets. Welch is currently at work on his third novel. To learn more about the author, see reviews, or make contact, visit his website: www.jswelchbooks.com.
