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The Testament of Jessie Lamb: A Novel Paperback – May 15, 2012

by Jane Rogers (Author)
3.5 3.5 out of 5 stars 103 ratings
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 Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize

“The novel does not set up an elaborate apocalypse, but astringently strips away the smears hiding the apocalypses we really face. Like Jessie’s, it is a small, calm voice of reason in a nonsensical world.” ―The Independent

Set in a world altered by an act of biological terrorism, comes The Testament of Jessie Lamb, a chilling dystopian novel that follows a 16-year-old girl who is driven to the ultimate act of heroism. 

The Testament of Jessie Lamb, is the breakout novel from award-winning author Jane Rogers. Its cunningly drawn characters and riveting vision of a dystopic future fraught with difficult moral choices will make The Testament of Jessie Lamb an instant favorite for fans of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, and Brian K. Vaughan’s Y: The Last Man.

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  1. Print length
    240 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harper Perennial
  4. Publication date
    May 15, 2012
  5. Dimensions
    5.31 x 0.58 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0062130803
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0062130808
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Rogers, the author of Mr. Wroe’s Virgins (1999), offers up a powerful dystopian novel in which pregnancy has become a death sentence. Terrorists have concocted a deadly virus known as MDS, which breaks down the proteins in the brains of pregnant women, killing them long before they are ready to deliver. Sixteen-year-old Jessie Lamb is the daughter of a scientist who is looking for a cure for MDS. She’s also a budding activist, flirting with youth groups that have sprung up in the face of this worldwide disaster. Jessie watches as her best friend, Sal, joins a fervent feminist group while her crush, Baz, gets involved with an increasingly radical animal-rights faction. Both groups are polarized when scientists develop a new program that might allow women to carry babies to term, at the cost of their own lives. But Jessie feels like this could be her way to make a difference, much to her parents’ horror. Long-listed for the Booker Prize, Rogers’ mesmerizing tale is frighteningly timely and bound to spark rich book-club discussions. --Kristine Huntley

Review

“The novel does not set up an elaborate apocalypse, but astringently strips away the smears hiding the apocalypses we really face. Like Jessie’s, it is a small, calm voice of reason in a nonsensical world.” — The Independent

“Jane Rogers has captured Jessie’s voice brilliantly, alternating a teenager’s solipsism with a growing awareness of the wider world. Jessie’s self-conviction is both admirable and infuriating, and the reader is torn between her clear, unequivocal conclusions and the intricate, heartfelt compromises of her parents.” — Times Literary Supplement (London)

“A powerful dystopian novel…Long-listed for the Booker Prize, Rogers’ mesmerizing tale is frighteningly timely and bound to spark rich book-club discussions.” — Booklist

“Thought-provoking, smart, real, disturbing, and well-written...A compelling page-turner of a novel.” — Popmatters

“Echoes of Kazuo Ishiguro’s stealthy novel Never Let Me Go abound, but Rogers works with a more populist tool kit, nailing the tempestuous inner conflicts of a young woman as she discerns the full measure of selfishness required to be selfless.” — New York Times Book Review

“Beautifully and convincingly written, Jessie’s testament for posterity is truly moving, haunting…a rich, heavy read, full of provocative questions…” — Kirkus Reviews

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Perennial; Original edition (May 15, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062130803
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062130808
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.58 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.5 3.5 out of 5 stars 103 ratings

About the author

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Jane Rogers

Jane Rogers

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Jane Rogers has written 10 novels ranging from historical to contemporary to sci fi. Books include Mr Wroe's Virgins (which she dramatised as an award-winning BBC drama serial), Island, and The Testament of Jessie Lamb (ManBooker longlisted, winner of the Arthur C Clarke Award 2012). Her short story collection Hitting Trees with Sticks was shortlisted for the Edgehill Award.

She also writes radio drama and Classic serial adaptations (most recently of John Wyndham and R.L. Stevenson).

Jane has taught writing to a wide variety of students, and is Professor Emerita at Sheffield Hallam University. She's a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her latest novel, Body Tourists, is a dystopia set in 2040.

Customer reviews

3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5 out of 5
103 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars For future consideration!
Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2013
Verified Purchase
A startling and interesting premise - a future when all pregnant women must die. To ensure the survival of the human race, scientists work on possible scenarios. Jessie takes a decision which she hopes will make a difference.
Her parents face losing their only daughter. Has Jessie's life become an obsessional drive to help the world or is she succumbing to scientific hysteria?
A young voice consistently keeps the reader on edge.
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Lisa
4.0 out of 5 stars Great dystopia
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2012
The Testament of Jessie Lamb takes place in our world where the unthinkable happens. Someone has engineered a virus and unleashed it on humanity called the MDS virus. It causes pregnant women, who are susceptible to illness in their pregnant state, to severely deteriorate and kill both the mother and child. Essentially this act of bioterrorism has halted the progress of the human race by preventing any new babies to be born. Everyone is infected and there is no cure.

Many `solutions' pop up. Scientists are working on a vaccine. Some are trying to find a way to get the mother to survive the pregnancy. Some have forgone this luxury and simply try to get the babies born, even if the cost is the mother's life. Some women have been volunteering to become implanted with embryos and to carry out their pregnancy in a coma, hoping the baby makes it through even though they don't. They're called "Sleeping Beauties".

Jessie Lamb is a sixteen year old girl living through this dire change in the world. Her and her friends talk about how this only happened because adults have not taken care of the planet, or created wars and a world where people would want to destroy the human race. Some think it's mother nature defending itself from the toxic effect of humans on the planet, and some others think it's a ploy by men to further control women and their child-bearing ability, something men would never be able to do themselves. It's a dark, scary time and yet things don't seem all that far-fetched.

The novel is written as if Jessie herself is writing down her story of her whole experience. The main story hinges on Jessie and her quest to find a meaning for her own life by coming up with a way to help humanity's grave situation. While spending time contemplating her role in all this, she also goes through many typical teenager trials. She has boy troubles, her parents don't understand her and she doesn't know what to do with her life. But it never comes off as juvenile or silly compared to this virus everyone is dealing with. Jessie and her family all seem to act as clearly as anyone would act if this were to happen and that's what made it a fascinating read.

I really came to like Jessie even though I felt some of her ideas and convictions were not always sound. She has an extremely impressive amount of agency in her life, despite being sixteen and facing a life where she would be unable to have a child without dying in the process. Over the novel she makes a big decision, the biggest decision in her life and it doesn't come easy. We watch her do this and watch as her family reacts and the world reacts. I won't say the outcome since it's a major spoiler, but it's fascinating and sad at the same time.

Although I decided to read this book because of the science fiction and dystopia aspects, this was largely a coming of age story about a girl and her desire to do something that will matter in the world. I found myself instantly taken in with her story and her voice. Here's a passage that really grabbed me with its simplicity and contrast to the stark world:

"I wondered who had worn my dress, I wondered if she went dancing in it. I had the strangest feeling, almost as if the dress was a body. I'd put the dress on and in doing that I'd put on another body. A light, twirling, dancing body. And after me, someone else could wear the dress. And someone else. And they would all have a sense of that, the light twirling dancing body. But of course they would be themselves as well. I was thinking, if that much can be passed on just in a dress, how much of every living person lives on after they die?" (p. 91)

I'm really glad I read The Testament of Jessie Lamb and I think Jessie's story will stay with me for some time. There's so much to think about from different angles and it's nice to read a novel that has that effect on you. I definitely recommend this book to those looking for a great dystopian story, that doesn't shy away from real issues and hard choices. Jessie is a strong, convincing female protagonist that I encourage everyone to discover.

Review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.
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Man of La Book
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book With Many Themes
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2012
The Tes­ta­ment of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers is an award win­ning science-fiction book tak­ing place in the near future. This is a book that out of my com­fort zone as I usu­ally don't read this genre (I used to), but I'm glad I read and think it's impor­tant to read books which you might not otherwise.

Jessie Lamb is 16 years old, daugh­ter of a British sci­en­tist attempt­ing to find a cure for MDS, a nasty virus. MDS was unleashed upon the world by an unknown group; the virus attacks preg­nant women and their babies killing the woman before she is able to give birth.

Jessie is flirt­ing with activism, not using a car when unnec­es­sary, join­ing youth groups and more. But she finds new mean­ing when sci­en­tists dis­cover that women under 16 ½ have great chances of pro­duc­ing a baby, cre­at­ing a future for human kind at the expense of their own lives.

The Tes­ta­ment of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers almost reads like a clas­sic dystopian novel and I'm sure it will become one soon enough. I found the story sur­pris­ing with sev­eral gen­tle twists, every time I thought I knew what was going to hap­pen, I found out I was wrong.

The writ­ing is excel­lent, but the book is not your fast paced vari­ety. The story is nar­rated from the point of view of a teenage girl, the chap­ters begin by reliv­ing the past and end with a journal/diary entry detail­ing the present. While at first this type of nar­ra­tive arrange­ment was strange, it actu­ally worked won­der­fully book and its many themes.

Even though the book takes place in the near future, the themes which are dealt within it are con­tem­po­rary. Legal age, con­sent, society's will­ing­ness to tear each other apart, to sac­ri­fice "the oth­ers" for your own moral­ity and our favorite social pas­time: force­fully enforce your jaded morals on the rest.

When I was first offered to read this book I hes­i­tated, to be hon­est I only accepted because it looked inter­est­ing, I thought my wife would like it as well and because it was long listed for the Man Booker Prize. I'm not usu­ally much for science-fiction and/or dystopian books. I liked The Hunger Games but have yet to read the rest of the series and loved science-fiction as a kid, but haven't read a sci-fi book in years.

I am always one to preach that peo­ple should read out of their com­fort zones, yet I rarely fol­low my own advice. And here, the oppor­tu­nity pre­sented itself and I took it.
Do you know what I found out?
I was right, not only am I happy I read this book, as it gave me much fod­der to think about after I fin­ished it, but I believe that I am a bet­ter reader for doing so.
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Thinman61
3.0 out of 5 stars somewhat ponderous
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2013
Verified Purchase
I didn't love this one. I found myself not really caring for the main character and her childish teenage quest for acceptance. It seems as if any sense of doom and urgency are quickly explained away, leaving her simply petulant.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Susan Glazier
4.0 out of 5 stars I was on the parents' side
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 14, 2013
Verified Purchase
I actually can't get enough of good dystopian novels. For most of the time while reading it, I thought this novel was great. I loved the set up, the ideas and the disintegration of society (and relationships) that was a consequence of the catastrophe hitting Britain and the world. The book captures people's attempts to give meaning to their lives in the face of MDS - a worldwide, deadly and gruesome virus. Everyone is infected but the disease is only triggered when women become pregnant - killing them and the future generation. As other reviewers have noted, the premise that this novel is built on is similar to PD James's, "The Children of Men", where women just stop conceiving. With either version of this premise, the human race dies out. But ultimately, although really interesting, well written and had me hooked for a long time, for me, this book isn't as subtle or exciting as The Children of Men. Some others have called it "overwritten" (which it is in places) and I really hated the ending.
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S DeMinico
1.0 out of 5 stars One Star
Reviewed in Canada on November 8, 2014
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I didn't like anything about this book.
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M. E. Cole
3.0 out of 5 stars Simplistic and rushed.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 3, 2013
Verified Purchase
A promising start and great idea but far too simplistic. Explanations are vague and ideas are rushed through.

Despite being discussed on BBC radio 4 womans hour, this is clearly a book that is aimed at teens and young adults (though I didnt realise this when I bought it ), so being in my early (ahem) thirties i am perhaps not in the intended target readership.

The book is written from the point of view of head-strong and impulsive, 16yo Jessie who I unfortunately couldnt warm to so ultimately didn't really care what happened.

Disappointing.
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Scrutineer
5.0 out of 5 stars A very impressive book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 22, 2012
Verified Purchase
I don't believe that Jane Rogers has ever written a bad book, but this is probably her best so far. It's a dystopian vision worthy of standing alongside Doris Lessing's 'Memoirs of a Survivor' and Maggie Gee's 'The Ice People'. Like those books, it draws much of its power from its ability to relate to our own world, to make us feel that the scenario presented is perfectly believable. It doesn't really matter if the science is a bit dodgy - it almost certainly is - or the plot a little creaky - things develop a bit too quickly, for example - so long as we can believe in the people and their reactions, and we can.

You could argue that the ending is predictable but surely this is because the author spends the whole book persuading us that it is the only ending possible and right up till the end the reader is hoping that there'll be some way out for Jessie. Indeed there is in a way, since the possibility that the implantation of the foetus may not be successful is mentioned, but we know in our hearts that things can only end one way.

It's a gripping tale, but not just that - it's also a book of ideas and throughout you are invited to consier the moral dilemmas with which society, and particularly the main characters, are having to grapple.

I can only say that I'm looking forward to Rogers' next book.
One person found this helpful
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Lucybird
4.0 out of 5 stars More Young Adult than Contempory fiction
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 1, 2012
Verified Purchase
The Testament of Jessie Lamb is the story of Jessie Lamb (believe it or not). Jessie lives in a world where humans are dying out. Every human is infected with a deadly virus which is activated when a woman become pregnant. This means that no new babies can be born and Jessie's generation will be the last humans if a solution isn't found. Jessie wants to save the world, and she will go to any lengths to do it.
This book is listed as a contemporary novel but it actually reads much more like Young Adult fiction. That's not to say it was bad, in fact I enjoyed it quite a lot, but for an adult novel it wasn't especially sophisticated. I liked Jessie quite a lot. She had a real sense of morality, not just where it came to the virus but also with other issues which we can see in the real world today- for example the greenhouse effect, or feminism. I liked how she had her principles and she would stick to them no matter what. It was sad to see what happened to her but also somehow right.
I wonder about the biblical references in this book. There are the Noah's who are a bit like evangelical Christians (or should I say the stereotypical evangelical Christians) but then there is a certain biblical parallel to Jessie herself.
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