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The Testament of Jessie Lamb Paperback – 5 July 2012

by Jane Rogers (Author)

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Winner of the Arthur C Clarke Award 2012
Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2011

Women are dying in their millions. Some blame scientists, some see the hand of God. As she watches her world collapsing, Jessie Lamb decides she wants to make her life count. Would you let your daughter die if it would save the human race?

The Testament of Jessie Lamb is the story of one daughter's heroism and one father's love.

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Review

'A little like The Handmaids Tale colliding with Children Of Men, Jane Rogers eighth novel offers a variation on one of the most chilling apocalyptic scenarios. In the near future, every woman in the world has been infected by some kind of airborne contaminant which causes maternal death syndrome (MDS). Anyone who becomes pregnant will automatically develop a form of CJD which ultimately kills them. She also quite explicitly carries over themes from her earlier bestseller, Mr Wroes Virgins, which, recast for the genome-mapping, eco-terrorist 21st century, prove soberingly durable' -- ALASTAIR MABBOTT, The Herald PAPERBACK OF THE WEEK
'With Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go having hit the big screen, this is set to be a good year for literary dystopias that pack an emotional punch. With that adaptation, it's a case of if you like the film, you'll love the book, but if you can take any more bleakness you'll be blown away by this new novel by Jane Rogers. The scary thing about this novel is that the questions it raises are so close to home. Must women always be the victims and the fall guys? 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' -- KATY GUEST, 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' -- LUCY DALLAS, Times Literary Supplement
'You'll be blown away by this' -- Independent
'By far the most moving of all the 138 [Booker] entries' -- Chris Mullin, Evening Standard --Daily Mail

You'll be blown away by this. --The Independent

About the Author

Jane Rogers has written eight novels including Her living Image (Somerset Maugham Award), Mr Wroe's Virgins (Guardian Fiction Prize runner-up), Promised Lands (Writers Guild Best Novel Award), Island (Orange long-listed), and The Voyage Home. She has written drama for radio and TV, including an award-winning adaptation of Mr Wroe's Virgins for BBC2. Her radio work includes both original drama and Classic Serial adaptations. She has taught writing at the University of Adelaide, Paris Sorbonne IV, and on a radio-writing project in Eastern Uganda. She is Professor of Writing at Sheffield Hallam University, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Jane lives on the edge of the moors in Lancashire.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Canongate Books Ltd; Main edition (5 July 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 308 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0857864181
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0857864185
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.9 x 1.9 x 19.8 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 815,977 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 73,100 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- 77,894 in Contemporary Fiction (Books)

Customer reviews:
3.5 113 ratings

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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.

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3.5 out of 5

113 global ratings

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Susan Glazier

I was on the parents' side

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 July 2013

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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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M. E. Cole

Simplistic and rushed.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 November 2013

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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

A very impressive book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 July 2012

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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

More Young Adult than Contempory fiction

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 August 2012

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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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C. G. Whitaker

Teen style - but with adult content

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 June 2013

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Odd mix - written like it is targeted at young teens but graphic content stops it being suitable for them. Clever idea, but one dimensional translation makes it unclear who the target audience is.
Would have been better as a short story. Not so much science fiction as teenage angst.

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Jemmy Bloocher

Uninspiring in the extreme

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 January 2012

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I have to say that I started thinking about the review of this book based on the fact that I thought it was written for adults. It was I think written for young teens, but as such is still even then only ok. The prose is uninspiring and bland, the characterisations two dimensional with no real depth and moreover the protagonist is someone for whom it is almost impossible to like. Also, why is she approached by a gang of Scots 'neds' in /around Manchester? As a Scot I must say it was rather bizarre, for an English person it must be even worse. There are other 'holes' but, fine.

Unfortunately sometimes the level of writing in children's/teen's books is less tight than for adults and this is a real shame as these books are just as important. Other writers have done this much better. Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines series is so far superior as to be in a different league of writing and demonstrates how good children's literature can be. I felt this book wasted my time and money and wouldn't recommend it at all to most people. However if you want something that doesn't challenge you in any way, has characters who are pretty bloody awful and a writing style that is bland in the extreme then go for it! (Most 12 year olds should be beyond this)

3 people found this helpful

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For future consideration!

Reviewed in the United States on 1 October 2013

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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.

S DeMinico

One Star

Reviewed in Canada on 8 November 2014

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I didn't like anything about this book.

Thinman61

somewhat ponderous

Reviewed in the United States on 30 June 2013

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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

KatPiper

A Bad Escape

Reviewed in the United States on 20 May 2015

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I highly suspect that if I had read this book while in my teens (disregarding the unlikely event of a time warp), I might have been far more sympathetic towards the main character, Jesse, because I would likely have empathized with her deep desire to help save the world. However, now in my cynical sixties, I find Jesse to be dangerously idealistic, self centered and much akin to the radical extremists who terrorized her futuristic world and who currently terrorize ours. I find so many parallels between Jesse's emotional responses to the perils of her times and the prevailing and debilitating fears -- both real and imagined -- of today's youths who turn to suicide for escape. Because suicide is exactly what Jesse has chosen, although she paints this decision with a palette of socially redeeming colors, convinced as she is that she is helping to save all humanity from the curse inflicted by bio-terrorists. Rubbish. I do not applaud Jesse's acts, probably because I identify so much with her parents. How she rebels against them and hurts them so deeply far outweighs what minute good her sacrifice might do for humanity. If any at all. Jesse's own words reflect the thoughts of so many people who are about to end their lives: "I'm enjoying the way it is receding, all worries becoming flimsy, as easy to brush away as cobwebs." This book actually appears to encourage suicide! As I was reading, I kept hoping for a morally satisfactory ending. It didn't happen. I sincerely hope, for the sake of folks who may be contemplating ending their own lives, that this book does NOT become a movie. Any success it may have at the box office could result in more tragic endings for those on the verge of the ultimate escape.

ReadYourselfHappy

Predictable, and with a shockingly annoying protagonist. Skip it.

Reviewed in the United States on 23 June 2014

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The idea presented in this book is interesting: a world where there are no more births due to a virus of unknown origin. Scientists need to find a way to carry on the human race, otherwise our race will be extinct within lifetime.

Jane Rogers' execution of this idea was poor. My main issue was with the protagonist, Jessie. To put it bluntly, she's a whiny, self-absorbed teenager who thinks she's the most important person in the world. Most of the book is her complaining that she knows better than all the grownups but that no one listens to her, which means they're clearly idiots. The more this character was developed, the less I liked her or cared about the story.

Another huge problem I had with this book was how often the author seemed to want to add animal rights to the story, despite it being unimportant. I'm pretty much going to guess that the author is vegan or an animal rights activist, and wanted to shove it in wherever she could. It was an annoyance.

Third, and this is more of an editing problem than an author one, but I found so many typos that I kept getting distracted from the story.

And lastly, the book is so predictable that it's ridiculously boring. After reading the first 50 pages I had it figured out.

Do yourselves a favor and read something else. There are a lot of amazing books within this genre that are significantly better.

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