Klara is an Artificial Friend, a humanoid robot companion sold to keep children company, and she narrates from her place in a city store. Unusually observant, she studies passers-by and the movements of the Sun, which she regards as a benevolent force that nourishes her and perhaps everyone else. She waits to be chosen.
Eventually she is bought for Josie, a lively but chronically ill girl living with her anxious mother in a remote house. Josie's illness is linked to a procedure many families undergo to give their children advantages, and her neighbour and close friend Rick has not had it. Klara devotes herself to Josie's welfare and forms her own logic about how she might help.
Ishiguro's first novel after his Nobel Prize returns to the territory of Never Let Me Go: a narrator with a limited view of a disquieting world. Through Klara's literal, generous perspective he raises questions about love, loneliness, artificial intelligence and whether a person can be replicated. It was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2021.
Book details
| Author | Kazuo Ishiguro |
|---|---|
| First published | 2021 |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Type | Fiction |
| Pages (approx.) | 303 |
| Setting | An unnamed American city and a rural house, in the near future |
Themes
- Artificial intelligence
- Love and devotion
- Loneliness
- Faith
- What makes a person unique
Who should read it
Readers who want a gentle, thoughtful novel about AI and human attachment.
If you liked this, try
- Never Let Me Go
- Machines Like Me
- The Remains of the Day