The Family Experiment - John Marrs

From the acclaimed author of The One and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment is a dark and brilliant speculative thriller about families: real and virtual. n Some families are virtually perfect... n n The world's population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities and an economic crisis.

And in the UK, the breaking point has arrived. A growing number of people can no longer afford to start families, let alone raise them. n n But for those desperate to experience parenthood, there is an alternative.

For a monthly subscription fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch who they can access via the metaverse and a VR headset. To launch this new initiative, the company behind Virtual Children has created a reality TV show called The Substitute. It will follow ten couples as they raise a Virtual Child from birth to the age of eighteen but in a condensed nine-month time period.

• The prize: the right to keep their virtual child, or risk it all for the chance of a real baby

n n Set in the same universe as John Marrs's bestselling novel The One and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment is a dark and twisted thriller about the ultimate Tamagotchi--a virtual baby.n