CBR18 Bingo: Wealth – Immensely wealthy people have the means to create such a costly, immoral, and illegal experiment.
John was trying to smile, to show his brother a brave face. John knew much of the world and he had read more esoterica and ancient texts than his brothers. If Ben was going to try to amaze him with some tawdry magics, he was ready.
― Meg Elison, Foundling Fathers“It’s electricity,” the captain said, utterly lost.
“I’ve read about this,” Ben said, dreamily. “It’s related to the study of magnetism. Unseen changes in the atmosphere, like lightning.”
“You and your lightning,” Jefferson said.
― Meg Elison, Foundling Fathers
The world is not the same as it was when America’s founding fathers came together to declare independence from English rule. Two hundred and fifty years later, America has drifted further and further from the ideals upon which it was founded. Sin, treachery, godlessness, disrespect for the rule of law; all flourish under the feckless leadership of soft, selfish people. If only there were a way to bring back the great minds and stalwart personalities who could steer America back on course.
With modern science, billions of dollars, and advocates deep in the government, an experiment is constructed. With DNA, elaborately reconstructed historical settings, and an isolated island off the coast of Virginia, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson are bred and raised under the same circumstances that their DNA donors were. Without any modern conveniences and with zero knowledge of the modern world, the four boys are raised as brothers under the guidance of “Mother” and period-appropriate male instructors and mentors.
When Ben Franklin finds a mysterious object in the privy, he discovers images showing that his noble, loyal mother is a harlot and that his entire existence is a lie. He shares this shiny, glass, rectangular object with his brothers, who, after some brotherly infighting, agree to confront their mother and Hancock, their teacher.
This novella was delightful. The four teenage boys are hilarious as they gradually learn that perhaps God is not who brought them to their current home and that their own mother has been lying to them their entire lives. The best parts are the infighting and petty rivalries and slights that fuel their teenage behavior. They are not America’s great minds, but are instead horny, stubborn, drunken, misogynistic, new world aristocrats. They and the people who created them (deeply religious billionaires, megalomaniac tech entrepreneurs, and military leaders, and their “anything for the cause” devoted mother/surrogate) face the consequences of breeding designer children in captivity with the aid of the US government.
I haven’t read any of Meg Elison’s other books but now I’m very motivated to check them out.
