The Artificial Wife

by Rachael Eyre

Summer has been coached to be the perfect wife. When she is sold to the self centred, bullying Robert, she thinks her life is over.

Former prostitute Elle has lost everything in a short space of time. Robert seems to offer her a way out.

Two robot women from different worlds, brought together by the same man. In these unlikely circumstances, true love can grow.

Genres: Science Fiction, Lesbian, Dark, Robots, LGBT, Artificial Intelligence, Fantasy

184 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2018

About the author

I first realised I wanted to be a writer aged seven and have been scribbling ever since. After taking Creative Writing as a minor at university, I went on to write and indie publish The Governess, a historical thriller. That was followed by The Revenge of Rose Grubb, Love and Robotics, The Artificial Wife, Diary of a Teenage Lesbian and Book 666. My seventh novel Hello Satan was released in 2021.

I enjoy reading, theatre, history, art and podcasting. I host #NotJustTentacles, an anime podcast.

Please note: All my books contain LGBT+ themes. If you are uncomfortable with such subject matter, I advise you not to read them. They are not erotica either, so anyone anticipating this will be disappointed.

Reviews

[lov2laf · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly good read and another indie gem in the Kindle Unlimited program.

Summer is an educated, trained, and lady-like artificially intelligent robot. Elle is also an artificially intelligent robot but created for sexual pleasure and works as a prostitute in a brothel. Both are brought into Robert's home to serve different functions and ultimately combine to be the perfect wife. What no one could anticipate, least of all Robert, is the humanity behind their steel nor the love Elle and Summer develop for each other.

The novella is definitely interesting and well-written with strong characters. I don't want to go into the plot because I think it would bring too many spoilers. But I was impressed with the nuances of the story, commentary on AI vs humans, and certain twists.

The narrative is an amalgamation of sci-fi, dystopian, and romance genres. I would almost call this Victorian steampunk but that's the one area of the book I couldn't lock down. Sometimes I thought we were in the past and other times it felt we were in a parallel future. Regardless, it's more of a minor issue and I went with it.

I wouldn't say that this is a feel good read. It does have some darker themes not to mention sinister characters and a rape trigger. However, Elle and Summer are the counterbalance and their romance brings out the sweeter side along with a satisfying ending.

The story isn't without sex but it's not erotic. The romance is f/f but, because Elle is a prostitute and Robert is their master, m/f sex is also depicted. The m/f aspect felt similar to something I'd find in a Keira Michelle Telford read.

And, to note, the book does have ethnic diversity all around including Elle who is also described as plump.

I will certainly check out other works by this author. Well done. 4.4 stars.

[Corrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t think I have ever despised and loathed a fictional character that much as I have Robert. Read this book and you will totally agree with me on this.

I know that pointing to another reviewer and say ‘what she said’ is lazy, but honestly… Lov2Laf’s summary of The Artificial Wife can’t be done any better by me. So please read her words to decide if this is the book you want to read.

If it is up to me, I would say please do. Don’t expect fluff though. It’s quite graphic and dark, but author Rachael Eyre is such a wonderful storyteller. I was compelled to ride it out all the way to the (thank the gods) very satisfying end. To the author, if you read this… you have me! I’m a fan for life :-)

f/f, m/f not explicit

Themes: the suffering of arties, male chauvinism in its most ugly form, I love this author, her graphic depictions remind me of Keira Michelle Telford.

4.4 stars

[Joc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been staring at my screen trying to figure out what I think about this but answers are not particularly forthcoming. On one hand I thoroughly enjoyed the story and premise but on the other, I'm not sure what I feel about the characters. It starts off from the point of Vivaan, a robot technician, who is friends with a particularly vile man, Robert. Robert envies Vivaan and his wife and enlists his help in securing a robot as his own wife. Robert's wife needs to be cultured, well-trained and able to service most of his needs. Summer is a sentient, artificially intelligent robot and seems to fit the bill perfectly. What Vivaan doesn't know is that Robert secures himself a second robot, this time from a brothel. Elle will service his other needs.

This story is as much about Robert and Vivaan as it is about Elle and Summer. It's a tense, dark and gripping read but not a very comfortable one. It gave me the same sense of unease that I got from stories like The Handmaid's Tale and The Stepford Wives. Where it did differ for me though, is that I always had in the back of my mind that Summer and Elle are robots. When I read The Cybernetic Tea Shop, Sal (a robot) was imbued with such a powerful sense of humanity that it was easy to feel empathy for her. I think this is where The Artificial Wife fell down for me; I had a stronger feeling of disgust for Robert and Vivaan than I had around hoping for the well-being of Summer and Elle.

[Meredith is a hot mess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever found enjoyment in something without realizing you enjoyed it? When I first noticed books about robots on some of my GR friends shelves I thought: "Huh. I'm not sure if I'd enjoy reading a story about a robot. It might not be my thing."

I found immense enjoyment out of this book, and then realized I have, in fact, enjoyed stories that feature AI. Battlestar Galactica is a fave tv series of mine, why I didn't make this connection earlier I have no clue. Data is one of my favorite characters from TNG. I like WestWorld (a strong f/f relationship is overdue on that show....crossing my fingers for s3). Ex Machina was awesome. The Stepford Wives is one of my favorite horror stories.

This book was cleverly written and I'm left amazed by the author's talent. I LOVED the British slang and humour. Have you ever read a book and wanted to be friends with an author? If I ever visit the UK I want hang out with Rachael Eyre. I'm a bit envious of her friends, because I can tell Ms. Eyre is the type of friend that cracks jokes all through dinner that leaves everyone belly laughing. I had fun perusing her blog: http://miseriacordiay.simplesite.com/ which was hilarious.

Ok, back to the story.

The Artificial Wife is set in a dark futuristic society. I got a very unnerving feeling from the beginning. It's layered with feminist and existential themes. What the robots go through is heartbreaking, but there's humour and wit that breaks up the sadness. I felt Summer's vulnerability, but also her inner strength of steel. Elle was strong on the outside, but I could sense the heartbreak she held inside. Seeing these two come together during a time of hardship was touching.

The Princess Azita story added a nice element, and I was surprised by how morally gray Vivaan was. For a relatively short book each character was fully-formed, unique, and complex.

I will definitely be reading more by Rachael Eyre

[Kurt · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I am always interested in stories about androids I found this book horribly depressing to read. Most of the human beings are monstrous and demonstrate, again, how androids are more 'human' than humans while exploring the psychology of men who desire a Madonna/whore relationship (in this case with two women). I never had the sense the two main characters, Artificials or "Arties" (I liked that one), were any different from anyone else without rights in the world.

There were parts of the book I didn't enjoy but then there'd be this beautiful sentence or description which let me know the author can write.

[vacatedboat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t really have anything to add to lov2laf’s review. This was a dark story, but it was very unique, which I always appreciate. The writing is really good and I was so into the story I pretty much tore through it in one sitting. Recommended to anyone who doesn’t mind a dark plot with a HEA.

[Dannica · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, this is a world where robots exist and you can buy them for various purposes. Including sex or housework? Or maybe not? I don't know, I'm very confused on that point. Also, some robots seem to be more sentient than others? Anyways, in this world a man named Robert Percival buys two robots, one named Elle and one named Summer, with the help of a friend named Vivaan. He uses Elle for sex and feels affection for her, and uses Summer for housework and thinks of her sort of as an "artificial wife". Basically he's fucked up. Elle and Summer are supposed to be kept separate but they eventually meet and ally themselves against Robert. Oh, and fall in love.

It's quite a didactic book. I felt like the whole "women are robots dehumanized for male use" thing was played a little hard, but on the other hand it doesn't seem like all society behaves like Robert--he's more the outlier--but I still feel like it was pretty overboard.

Robert's character is an odd one. He's given many POV sections (he and Vivaan are given as many as Elle and Summer), and his tone is always affably academic but his actions towards Summer are cartoonishly abusive. His Madonna/whore complex toward Summer and Elle is obvious, but it's a little inverted from the norm: usually you'd see the whore treated as trash and the Madonna venerated, but Robert views Summer as a mindless tool and Elle as an actual lover who reciprocates his feelings. I thought that was interesting. Incidentally, it really needs to be mentioned that Elle (the pseudo-whore) is black, and Summer (the pseudo-wife) is white. Which is kind of weird because they're both robots, but somewhat lines up with expectations for women from those two races--stereotypical black women being more sexualized and seen as exotic whereas stereotypical white women are pure, non-sexual and submissive. So...hm...

Robert is also given a backstory of a not-great father and a lesbian mother who left the family. Which seems to be partly the reason for his misogyny and eventual homophobia. He resents his mother but you can tell that the hatred is born of sadness over his mother leaving him.

Can you tell I thought Robert was the most interesting character? I feel awful about this. He's an abusive asshole and terrible in a hundred different ways, but he still felt the most three-dimensional. This book is as much about him as it is about Summer or Elle, certainly.

So, onto Summer and Elle then. Elle's pretty interesting. Her backstory confuses the heck out of me: she was in a whorehouse with other robots apparently? But she also seemed to be living a relatively independent life despite her robothood? And she had a love affair with the brothel owner but also maybe said owner was just using her. Also she's lesbian (and so is Elle) which is interesting and confusing because these are robots and you'd think that kind of thing wouldn't be programmed in--though at least it makes more sense for her than for Summer, since she's meant to be used for sex and thus should have sexual desire for her clients (most of whom were women) while Summer is definitely meant for male use. This "but they're robots" thing kept on tripping me up with them disobeying their programming and rebelling too, or changing because of gaslighting rather than changes to their programming. Idk, I picture my robots as more mechanical than humans and it just gets so confusing. I have to suspend my disbelief a bit harder I guess

On the other side of our lesbian robot relationship as well as our Madonna/whore complex we have Summer, who unfortunately was kind of boring. It's too bad--I like a rebellious Madonna figure, but while I didn't dislike Summer there just wasn't that much to her. Still glad she eventually escapes life with Robert and gets to be with Elle but that girl and I did not connect.

Finally, in our group of MCs there is also Vivaan, the man who thinks he's so much better than Robert but really is not. Even at the start he's complicit with Robert's actions and by the end he's shown that he has a dark side too. I think he kind of demonstrates that standing by while somewhat commits heinous acts doesn't absolve you. But again, I'm like.... you did creepy stuff but also Summer and Elle are literally robots? I know they're a metaphor for marginalized people but also, they are literally robots. I guess what it comes down to is that Summer and Elle are apparently sentient, which brings up a question of how they're sentient and what sentience really is and blah blah blah blah...

I get way too caught up in the mechanics of robot stories to enjoy a good metaphor.

Anyways, I would say that this is a book that made me think more than most lesfic I've read lately, so that's good, and I enjoyed the dark suspense of it all, but the world building is a bit muddled (for example, is keeping a robot as a sex slave legal or not? I want answers??) and the sense of didacticism can be a bit strong. Made for a nice change of pace, guess I'd recommend, especially since it's currently free and generally available through KU. Now I'm gonna go read some other reviews to see what others thought!

Content warnings: Rape, sexual slavery, abuse, misogyny, homophobia, violence. A lot of stuff.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really sharp sci fi”ish” AI story. Not quite as good as the Cybernetic Tea Shop but really that’s a tough one to beat. Frankly I’m perplexed as to why this book doesn’t have a higher rating.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this story, although it took a while to get into. The reason for that is that there was very little in the way iof scene or world set-up. At first I thought it was steampunk. But it isn't. It's science fantasy I would guess, but there is no definition of anything. No place setting or evocation of this world and characters are often charicatures.

The world and the story is grim. a little heavy handed sometimes with the vileness and so on. The androids are sentient, and seem to have more feeling than those who are not android. There needs to be more made of this. Also, the robots are made for sex, and that seems normal and acceptable, but then a woman is arrested for unnatural relations with a robot. I would like these details explained so that they fit better.

That said. I still enjoyed the story.I wish there were more of this.

[DR. Amanda Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG, I after reading this remarkable sci fi novel went on Amazon to see if I could buy a couple of these robot stunning females MS Eyre created from her gifted imagination, no dice LOL I was left fantasizing soon I hope. I disliked the male lead, what a ugly human being which is the reason I love kissing girls. How Eyre creates her magic from a blank page well those are the mysteries of talent us egg head doctors are always amazed by. Want to read more but the surf is up in front of my parents house so will do that later. Give me more. DR. Amanda. .

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frankly it was almost a Scan the last 50 pages or a DNF. This is a OK read but just don't think too much or you will find so many things that don't make any sense. 2.5

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m really unsure how to rate this. I enjoyed it but had a hard time connecting with Summer or Elle. Interesting storyline though. 3.5 stars

[Lea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I simply couldn't get on with this book. I found it to be repetitive, and didn't like any of the characters. Not even in the "I'm not supposed to actually like these characters, but their story still compels me" sort of way. I just did not like a single character, and completing the story felt like a bit of a chore. The alternating POVs would have been more interesting, if the characters' voices sounded different enough from one another to make it otherwise distinguishable without the chapter headings, but with the excepting of Robert, I found that the other three narrators almost blurred into one for most of the story.

The concept was really interesting, and there were some really good ideas and sparks scattered throughout the novel that made me want to know more about this universe, but overall I really could not get into it at all.

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. Just my type of weird but it wasn’t all that great but that might be because I didn’t like nor care about any of the characters. They were so hard to get invested in. I really liked the writing though and it is a quick read but it could’ve been a four stars but again the characters were a miss for me.

[Subira · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good HEA