Halfway to Free - Emma Donoghue - ★★★.½

AUTHOR: Emma Donoghue

SERIES: Out of Line

GENRE: Short Story, Dystopian.

RATING: 3.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A short story that is futuristic in its time but relevant even today in its content. Might have worked better if slightly lengthier, but it was still a good, thought-provoking read.

Story Synopsis:

2060. Miriam lives in a world where only the uber-elite such as royals are allowed to have children. Ordinary citizens are restricted by a technological birth control method in order to mitigate the devastation caused by climate change and reduce the population load on the planet. Most citizens don’t mind, as they get more time for themselves, and they don’t even need to compromise on their lifestyle. However, after hearing about the latest royal pregnancy, Miriam is curious to know more about what it takes to become a parent. When she discovers one of her colleagues also shares the same desire, the two need to take some tough decisions.

The story comes to us in Miriam’s first person perspective.

This is one of the standalone short stories in the ‘Out of Line’ collection, described on Amazon as “an incisive collection of funny, enraging, and hopeful stories of women’s empowerment and escape.”

The premise of this story is such that it would have made a brilliant novella, if not a novel. The futuristic setting feels dystopian, though the citizens have only one main restriction – they can’t have children. The rationale for this comes out well through the limited content, and also raises questions about whether such drastic measures might be needed in our world, where we are already struggling with overpopulation, limited resources, and an out-of-control climate.

The limited page count (the story is just 31 pages long) means that we don’t really get to know how old Miriam is, or why Miriam starts thinking obsessively about babies almost all of a sudden, or what her typical day as a bot design engineer is like. I’d have loved her personality to be explored more, as a story so centred around an individual’s thoughts and emotions should have allowed us to know the individual better.

Despite this issue, I still liked reading this little tale. It throws up plenty of points to ponder upon. Though it is set in the near future, the trigger for the government ban on childbirth is set in our contemporary era. So it’s tough to disagree with that extreme policy, though we can clearly see how dictatorial it is. Some part of the content seems too real for comfort.

I always enjoy stories that make me wonder what I would do in that character’s situation, though in this case, I have no clear answer to that hypothetical query.

I also liked the structuring of the narrative. The story doesn’t begin with any background detailing but dives straight into the pivotal scene that influences Miriam’s thinking. It is a bit confusing at the start, but Miriam’s ponderings soon update us of the status quo.

The ending is perfect for the story, though it might not satisfy readers looking for a concrete answer.

This tale won’t ever be a favourite of mine, nor will I ever reread it. But it did offer me some good points to think about. Moreover, with its strong focus on the environmental damage wreaked by humans, it ended up on the positive side rather than the ‘halfway’ mark, for which I will round up my rating wherever applicable.

This standalone story is a part of the “Out Of Line” collection, and is currently available free to Amazon Prime subscribers.