Wither (Chemical Garden Trilogy #1)

Description

What if you knew exactly when you would die? Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out. When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home. But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.(less)

Reviews

A 'harrowing debut ... DeStefano has an observant and occasionally pitiless eye, chronicling the cruelties, mercies, and inconsistencies of her young characters... It will be intriguing to see how DeStefano develops [the larger world] as this promising trilogy progresses.' -- Publisher's Weekly starred review 'Lauren DeStefano crafts an all too believable future. I loved the world, the romance, the writing -- exactly the kind of book I've been craving to read.' --Carrie Ryan, New York Times bestselling author of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH 'Wither is an exceptional novel that begins with a bang and doesn't let you go--it's gut-wrenching, shocking, incredible, and completely and utterly absorbing all at once!. DeStefano is a fearless writer, and though it is firmly its own book, Wither will remind readers of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.' --TheCompulsiveReader.com

Author description

Lauren Destefano earned her BA in English with a Concentration in Creative Writing from Albertus Magnus College in Connecticut in 2007. Wither is her first novel.

Stock Information

General Fields

• ISBN : 9780007386987
• Publisher : HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint : HarperVoyager
• Publication date : May 2011
• Dimensions : 197 mm x 130 mm
• Produced in : United Kinddom
• Availability date : May 2011
• Product Type : books

Special Fields

• Pages : 320
• Dewey classification : 813.6
• Bind : Paperback
• Author : Lauren Destefano