I'm not usually a sci-fi reader, but the premise of this book interested me and I wasn't disappointed. It felt almost too plausible - the breakdown of the NHS and true parental equality with the negatives and positives of natural birth and pouches discussed rationally. I found the time shifts with Frieda's audio- log a bit jarring but otherwise a well written and thought provoking read.

FullLife's baby pouches have been widely accepted as the new normality in the UK - when anyone can have a baby, safely, why risk a natural pregnancy with all the things that can go wrong?

Holly was the first woman to ever use the pouch, and now she's about to become a great-grandmother. She's proud to be an important figure in what she believes is an important step towards equality between men and women.

Eva and her mother, however, were never in favour of the pouches. Years after her mother's death, Eva is just about giving up on her campaigns against the pouch; to keep the choice of a natural birth. But something doesn't seem right - perhaps FullLife's pouches aren't as perfect as they have always claimed to be.

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I seem to be on a bit of a science fiction kick at the moment. In the last month, I've read The Circle, Dark Matter, The Handsmaid's Tale, and now this. The Growing Season. Similar to The Handsmaid's Tale, in that they both deal with a world in which natural birth is no longer an option, for whatever reason. However, whilst Atwood's fictional world is miles away from the one we recognise around us, Sedgwick's is all too similar.

I really enjoyed this book. The idea that anyone can have a baby is simultaneously terrifying and wonderful, and Helen Sedgwick explores how both of these can be true at the same time. The Growing Season is a really interesting look at how technology can develop in extreme ways when it gets 'into the wrong hands', and how, at the end of the day, being given all of the information available and the ability to choose is one of the most important things you can do.

I loved the use of multiple perspectives in this book. In the previous sci-fi novels I listed above, they're all written from a single character's perspective; The Growing Season immediately stood out as different in this respect. One of my favourite parts of the book was from Karl's perspective; a relatively minor character, but through his eyes the reader could see the devastation and desperation he was feeling at a particular moment in time. Often, the use of multiple perspectives can be confusing, but Sedgwick bounces between characters mostly naturally, to give the reader more information but without overloading them.

However, I do think that James Quentin's point of view was occasionally a little redundant. The parts of the novel in which he was simply a way of showing Avigail as someone who was incredibly loved were, in my opinion, unnecessary. I liked seeing Avigail, but I would have liked to see her more as an individual who was fighting against FullLife, and less as an object of Quentin's affection.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this book. I thought it was a really interesting concept that's very much worth thinking about, and was dealt with very well. I'm looking forward to its publish date to see what other people think of it!

4/5

We do not live in an equal society. The Pouch was designed to change that. Invented by a missing female scientist and sold by a female-led company (who operate out of a glass building- I see whatcha did there!), the Pouch is a literal out-of-body experience. Embryos (conceived 'traditionally' or via IVF) are transferred to the Pouch after a few weeks, where they can be carried by anyone. The marketing is mostly aimed at traditional families, but the Pouch makes childbearing possible for a huge range of people: LGBT+ couples, people in polyamorous relationships, anyone who is medically incapable of natural birth. It takes just two generations for women in England to abandon the concept of natural birth- why would any woman choose to go through the pain when she could watch her child pulled safely from the Pouch into a room filled with music, soft lighting and tropical fish? 18 year old Rosie- daughter of the very first Pouch-born baby- is able to share responsibilities with her partner Kaz, and continue her university education. They even sleep soundly, with the Pouch hooked up to an IV stand in the baby's new nursery. Sadly, they are about to become just as famous as Rosie’s pioneering grandmother, as their birth- which is attended by the world’s media- goes horribly wrong. Piotr, a journalist, and Eva, his estranged partner and heir to an anti-Pouch organisation that is just about to fold- both hold information that could seriously damage the FullLife corporation. Together with Rosie’s grandma Holly, they decide to track down the Pouch’s inventor, who wholeheartedly disowned her ‘baby’ and retreated to the freezing Scottish coast.
Author Helen Sedgwick presents us with a huge number of different viewpoints, and none of them are black and white. Almost everyone who finds themselves on the ‘Against’ side of the argument has benefitted from it in some way- either it allowed them to have children, or it is responsible for their own existence. I thought the intervention from Evangelical groups was very interesting- much of the original funding for the Pouch came from ‘pro-life’ sects who saw the Pouch as an alternative to abortion. Unwanted babies were ‘transferred’ into Pouches in private care homes, which quickly became overcrowded. Eva’s mother, one of the earliest and staunchest anti-Pouch campaigners, rescued her daughter Eva from such a place- the child hadn’t even been given a name. The NHS has been replaced by FullLife, which charges huge sums of money for personalised Pouches that play music to your baby or match your favourite outfit. This leads to an underground trade in used Pouches, which are often out of date and poorly-maintained. Thus there is still the problem of wanted versus unwanted children; parents who readily hand over their offspring, and parents who can’t afford to have the babies they desperately want. The Pouch has (arguably!) conquered the gender divide, but there is still a class divide in Sedgwick’s England.
The viewpoint I found least interesting was that of the male scientist, James Quentin. He has been working for years to find out why some Pouches are malfunctioning, and is deeply shocked by the loss of baby Will. In an attempt to unburden himself, he tells his wife that he used to be ‘in love with’ an anti-Pouch protestor, who he never dated, never slept with, and hadn’t seen for more than twenty years. He jumps in front of a train; his wife destroys his hard drive and all his paperwork. As soon as Eva and Piotr return from his house (where they spoke to his wife, briefly, about James’ deception) they meet up with Holly and set out for Scotland. What was the point?! Perhaps the author felt that we needed to hear from someone working inside FullLife- I would argue that the recent CEO, the brusque mortuary assistant or even the Pouch-carrying male receptionist would make a better POV character. Maybe she was trying to show how binary views on the Pouch broke James and Avigail apart….but they were never together in the first place. Piotr and Eva’s story is far more raw, compelling and sympathetic. Maybe she thought we needed more background on Avigail- but James’ rose-tinted image of ‘the one that got away’ is not likely to be accurate. Others may feel different, but I found James to be quite pointless!
I found that I was very satisfied with the ending. The Pouch is a tool: no better or worse than natural birth, not capable of total social upheaval, but still helpful to many (as long as it’s kept out of the wrong hands). This might sound like a ‘common sense’ conclusion, but there is space enough for us to imagine the characters grieving, coming back together, and then getting back to work. Myself and my brother were conceived via IVF, a procedure that is still expensive and pretty inaccessible 28 years later. Books from Bumped to The Handmaid’s Tale have explored the commodification of birth, but The Growing Season expands on existing technology (and how it can liberate and entrap women) rather than pitting fertile women against infertile women (and men). I would definitely recommend this book to students studying ethics and philosophy, gender studies or even childcare and PSHE. If you’ve just read The Power or Moose Baby, give it a shot!