This is a post-apocalypse novel with a lot of anthropology thrown in. I read it on the recommendation of a podcast host. It really isn’t my genre. ( )

What a haunting book. It's part science-fiction, part romance and part apocalyptic. The ending seemed to resonate with me, even though it didn't answer every question or wrap things up neatly. ( )

In an increasingly fragile world, a researcher arrives at one of the last sanctuaries for apes and starts studying bonobos in order to further her theories about female sexual selection. She’s also recovering from surgery from endometriosis, the pain and medical neglect of which is described in detail. And she is navigating her own recovering body and her sexuality, including her relationship with the initially offputting but increasingly attractive researcher assigned to support her work. After a dust storm cuts them off from the rest of the world, things get pretty scary; the ending is ambiguous at best but it’s sf of feminist ideas in terms of the questions it considers important (especially: what does choice mean when we have these bodies evolved in specific ways?) and I found it engaging despite the terrible romance-novel cover it has on Scribd, which was staring at me every time I opened it. ( )

Francine "Frankie" Burk, an evolutionary psychologist, has taken a research position at a midwestern institute to study bonobos vis a vis her hypothesis of a "Theory of Bastards," her theory about the benefits of having a lover's baby, rather than your husband's. She is studying the sex habits of the bonobos, attempting to discover whether the females make different choices of sexual partners during their fertile periods than during their non-fertile periods.

I really liked the first part of this book describing Frankie's efforts to gain the bonobos' trust, as well as her observations of their behaviors. In fact, there is a lot of information about factual scientific research regarding bonobos which is very interesting. But then, about half-way through the book, it morphs into a climate change apocalyptic novel. A huge dust storm comes up which destroys all technology. The institute is cut off from the rest of the world (whatever remains of it) and Frankie and her research partner must figure out how to feed the bonobos, and how to survive in a catastrophically changed world. I wasn't expecting this, although perhaps I should have been since the novel won a couple of science fiction literary awards.

3 stars ( )

…each important moment in life has about it a stillness, an extra beat, and awareness of the edges.”
This 397-page slightly futuristic novel, followed by a five page research appendix, begins as interesting and gradually become dangerous in that the reader becomes very emotionally invested in its characters and their fates: Dr. Francine (Frankie) Burk recovering from surgery to correct a life-long illness; David Stotts , the caretaker at an animal research facility not far from Kansas City; and 14 bonobo apes.
We get to know all of them quite well. The detailed mating habits of the bonobos initially may be TMI for some readers, but necessary to understanding them. Schulman is quite good (this is her 5th novel) at ratcheting up tension and what little violence does occur is all the more intense due to her skilled manipulation of us readers into investing our humanity into all of the characters.
Whether you are a science nerd, a lover of a well-told story, or a reader who likes to be grabbed by the wet-wear between your ears, this novel is for you.
May Audrey Schulman continue writing books that remind us of our humanity, tug at our heartstrings, illuminate the creatures we cohabitate with on this lone planet, and emphatically state the wonders and appreciation that science can bring into our lives. ( )