Hugh and Simon weren’t exactly made for each other, more like… manufactured.
Hugh Willard and Simon Williams couldn’t be less alike. They’ve been friends since childhood, but five years ago their differences led to a fight and they haven’t spoken since. But Hugh has discovered that he and Simon might be clones. Worse, they were never meant to be born, and someone wants them dead.
Set in the near future, The Willies tells the story of two people coming to grips with their relationship and identities while on the run. This takes place against a backdrop of bizarre events that poke fun at the current debate over bioengineering — starting with a panda blowing up and finishing with a showdown that threatens human life itself.
Hugh Willard and Simon Williams couldn’t be less alike. They’ve been friends since childhood, but five years ago their differences led to a fight and they haven’t spoken since. But Hugh has discovered that he and Simon might be clones. Worse, they were never meant to be born, and someone wants them dead.
Set in the near future, The Willies tells the story of two people coming to grips with their relationship and identities while on the run. This takes place against a backdrop of bizarre events that poke fun at the current debate over bioengineering — starting with a panda blowing up and finishing with a showdown that threatens human life itself.
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I wrote this novel when I was still living in Canada (where, please note, “the willies” is an expression meaning “the creeps” or “the shivers” — not, er, what it means in the UK).
The book is, however, about the difficult friendship between two men, and what happens when they find out they might actually be clones. That would explain why they can do the things they do -- Hugh remembering everything he’s ever seen or heard, and Simon being such a flawless athlete. But it also seems they were never supposed to be born, and someone wants them dead.
It’s all ludicrous, of course, but behind the chases and the freaky discoveries is a question about what, exactly, we’re trying to do with medicine. When does genetic research become eugenics? What kind of people are we hoping to create out of all this? As writer Susan Ertz said, “Millions long for immortality who don’t know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon.”
The book is, however, about the difficult friendship between two men, and what happens when they find out they might actually be clones. That would explain why they can do the things they do -- Hugh remembering everything he’s ever seen or heard, and Simon being such a flawless athlete. But it also seems they were never supposed to be born, and someone wants them dead.
It’s all ludicrous, of course, but behind the chases and the freaky discoveries is a question about what, exactly, we’re trying to do with medicine. When does genetic research become eugenics? What kind of people are we hoping to create out of all this? As writer Susan Ertz said, “Millions long for immortality who don’t know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon.”
