A Wigwam for a Goose's Bridle

Grace Chan’s debut novel is an intriguing consideration of what it is to be human. The year is 2088, and Tao-Yi lives in a Melbourne that has been destroyed by climate change. She and Navin can’t go outside for long without protective gear and air filters. Water is rationed. Meat is synthetic. Every day they lie in a NeuPod and enter Gaia, a virtual world in which they work, hang out with friends, and even eat. Technological advances make it possible to upload the human brain fully into Gaia, translating a person into code that lives fully in this virtual reality, never returning to their limited physical bodies. Unwell when we meet him, it’s no surprise that Navin wishes to become an early adopter of technology that he sees as liberating. Tao-Yi, however, takes longer to decide as she is still very much tethered to her ageing Malaysian mother who prefers to avoid the online world.

This novel offers a tender exploration of the role of the physical in our humanity, an achingly beautiful ode to the past. Chan’s prose is captivating. I couldn’t put it down.