This is the first John Wyndham book I've read and based off my enjoyment of 'Touble with Lichen' I would definitely try any of his other books (tip: there are lots of free ones on Libby and Audible). I've always found mid-20th century British sci-fi incredibly insightful. I tend to like the genre because I'm consistently awed by how accurate their predictions about the future are, how astute their observations about human (British capitalist) behaviour is, and the detailed fusion of 'hard' and 'soft' science. Wyndham does all of these things, and, impressively, showcases a remarkable grasp of (first and second wave) feminism and classism whilst he does so. This is top tier classic British feminist science fiction.

At first I found this book difficult to listen to because I was envious of the main character and identified with many aspects of her frustrations. (A smart woman who recevied a scholarship to study science at Cambridge, has a family who doesn't understand her, doesn't fit into the neat 'scientist' box, made an amazing discovery, and acted upon her discovery with purpose and continued curiosity for the benefit of people). Once I got over that aspect, I was transfixed by the separate arguments (and subsequent actions) put forward by the protagonists Diana Brackley and Francis Saxover in what social impact they think their discovery will entail. The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars in that I found the ending a little lacklustre. I didn't guess the

twist of Diana having faked her own death, though I found that rather clever and fitting with her character and beliefs

however, it felt like a more natural ending than the actual one written; which seemed a bit too neat and tidy.