The Unit

By Ninni Holmqvist

Subjects: Science Fiction, Literature, Fiction, general, Fiction

Description: When Dorrit Wegner turned fifty, the government transferred her to a state-of-the-art facility where she can live out her days in comfort. Her apartment is furnished to her tastes, her meals expertly served, and all at the very reasonable non-negotiable price of one cardiopulmonary system. Once an outsider without family, derided by a society bent on productivity, Dorrit finds within The Unit the company of kindred spirits and a dignity conferred by 'use' in medical tests. But when Dorrit also finds love, her peaceful submission is blown apart and she must fight to escape before her 'final donation'.On her fiftieth birthday, Dorrit Weger is checked into the Second Reserve Bank Unit for biological material: a state-of-the-art facility where she will make new friends, enjoy generous recreational amenities, and live out her remaining days in comfort with people who are just like her. Here, women over the age of fifty and men over sixty – single, childless, and without jobs in progressive industries – are saved from a life devoid of value and converted into productive members of society. The price: their body, harvested piece by piece for the 'necessary' ones, until their Final Donation completes their purpose, and their life. Despite the ruthless nature of this practice, the ethos of this near-future society and the Unit is to take care of others. Resigned to her fate, Dorrit finds her days there to be peaceful and consoling. But when she meets a man inside the Unit and falls in love, the extraordinary becomes a reality and life suddenly turns unbearable. Dorrit is faced with compliance or escape, and ... well, then what? "Holmqvist 's spare prose interweaves the Unit 's pleasures and cruelties w ith exqui site matter-of- factness." Washington Post B&N Review...Welcome to the Second Reserve Bank Unit for biological material, where we will be glad to ass ist you in becoming a more productive and valuable member of society, from the beginning of your stay, through to your Final Donation...