The Misconceiver

Following in the steps of her dead sister and mother, Phoebe works in the computer industry by day and at night performs illegal "misconceptions" in her basement, restoring to desperate women some measure of control over their own bodies. A love affair forces a choice between closing herself off and revealing her secret, thus opening the door to betrayal. When she is arrested and jailed, she begins to confront the multiple contradictions of a world that has moved rapidly ahead technologically while reversing once-progressive social trends. Phoebe is fiercely loyal to the memory of her sister but anxious for her own freedom. Eventually she must choose - between revenge and forgiveness, family and self, guilt and accountability, romantic love and political action. Haunted by memory and hunted by the law, she begins to find her true self even as she sheds her old identity. Set in a future that is not far-fetched but well within the range of our imagination, The Misconceiver not only addresses a vivid issue of our time but also brings to life characters and relationships that could well be ours, just over the horizon of time.