Saturday 7 June 2014

That Only A Mother by Judith Merril - A short story review

This should really be called flash fiction coming in at only ten pages. Set in 1948, present day for when it was published, it is an alternate history story speculating on what life would be like in the USA after it was hit with nuclear bombs, like Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In particular it focuses on babies born after the parents were exposed to radiation.

Thank goodness the story was so short because the trauma of mutations and the psychological impact on the mothers was chilling.

The attitudes and dialog were a bit old fashioned for today but that's only a reflection of the time it was written in.

It was very well done and I found it quite disturbing.

A list of all her works can be found HERE.

Her Wikipedia page is HERE.

Her dedicated website is HERE.

Judith Merril

Astounding Science Fiction - June 1948


No comments: