EXCLUSIVE: Audible has signed up Kingsley Ben-Adir (Bob Marley: One Love) and Erin Doherty (The Crown) to voice Another Life, the debut release from British-American writer Karla Marie Sweet.
Another Life is described as a “feminist, dystopian” story that tackles the question: What happens when something ostensibly good falls into the wrong hands?
The official synopsis reads: Another Life introduces readers to the controversial External Womb Programme, which provides women with the technology to outsource their pregnancy to a machine. While countless women hail this as revolutionary, others grapple with what this subversive new technology might mean for the future of motherhood and, indeed, the world.
After losing her parents in a car accident, Lucy marries James – sweet, straight, dependable, and completely unlike Violet, for whom she has always had a crush. All Lucy craves a glittering career as an actor, but James wants to settle down and have a baby, so when they discover the External Womb Programme, it looks like they can have it all.
As she and her husband James embark on their journey, however, it becomes clear she’s not being entirely honest with him and, as an old flame returns, everything is thrown into jeopardy. Decades later, the use of external wombs is commonplace. But a corrupt government stepping into power leads to this groundbreaking piece of technology falling into the wrong hands, forcing everyone to reckon with a challenging new world and their place within it.
“Writing my debut novel has been such a joyful experience,” said Marie Sweet. “It’s been a way for me to grapple with so many concepts, themes, and world issues. A means of articulating so many fears and dreams. Developing the coming-of-age stories of these characters over the last few years has also been a big part of my own coming-of-age. I’m so grateful that Audible could see this novel’s potential and working with them since they came on board has been nothing short of wonderful.”
Robin Morgan-Bentley, Director of Scripted Drama and Original Books at Audible acquired Global English rights from Ben Dunn at DunnFogg.