Stephanie A. Smith
OTHER NATURE 
(hardcover, TOR 1995, 253 pages)

$8.95 postpaid
contact: ssmith@english.ufl.edu
or Stephanie A. Smith
University of Florida
English Department
4008 TUR Hall
Gainesville, FL 32611

see also: http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/ssmith


OTHER NATURE "recounts the lives and loves of Monkar, a small community
of seaside residents who have found protectin in isolation from a viral 
epidemic. Among the residents are Sheila, whose eccentric daughter, Ona, 
demonstrates a mysterious affinity for the sea, and Nathaniel,
who miraculously survives certain death by drowning with the help 
of deaf-mute son, Tomas. In fact, as Monkar's citizens pay closer attention
to their children's uncanny ability to swim like seals in the nearby ocean,
it becomes clear that their offspring are subjects of an unfathomable 
genetic experiment...." (Booklist)

"...an intense tale of survival, of life, love, hate, in 
a difficult future that all too easily could be our own."  Vonda N. McIntyre

"This book is wonderful. It is haunting. It has the true grit of 
place. It sheds the blood of time. Read it and weep."  Starlog

"...a strange, sad, wise novel, a story of evolution as
desperate necessity, told by the ones, the parents, who 
are being left behind. Smith's image's, sand and sea and seals, 
will stay with you for a long, long time."  Melissa Scott