Obstetrix

Happy Book Birthday to Naomi Kritzer and Obstetrix! Thank you to NetGalley, Tor Publishing, and Macmillan Audio for the advance copies.

The synopsis - and even the title font choice - indicate that Obstetrix is near future science fiction, but it did not feel like that. Near future (all too near), maybe, but science fiction - only in that medicine is a science, but there's not much speculation going on here.

Fresh off a trial for performing a life-saving abortion in North Dakota, Liz is kidnapped by a fundamentalist cult to be their ob/gyn. Her feelings and experiences while there are basically a mirror to what many of us are experiencing: outrage at what's going on around us but not without concern for our own health and safety. How much should she speak up about how the books have been taken away, how women don't get to choose their husbands, about the bruises on the women and children's bodies under the threat of being buried next to the doctor she replaced?

Plus, it's just a very effective thriller. Every moment, besides dealing with what's in front of her, Liz is looking for a means to escape which just ratchets up the existing tension which is resolved in a satisfying conclusion. Then Liz - and we - have to go back to the world which bred the cult in the first place. Sigh.

A note on the audiobook: Books told in the first person set a high bar for the audio narration because you really want to feel like the character is speaking, and Jennifer Pickens did this and more. They embodied Liz and brought all the emotional weight needed to make the maximum impact at the most tense moments.