Speak

"A kaleidoscope of a book . . . that wants to raise big questions about how we know one another and ourselves." - Los Angeles Times

In a narrative that spans geography and time, from the Atlantic Ocean in the seventeenth century, to a correctional institute in Texas in the near future, and told from the perspectives of five very different characters, Speak explores the creation of Artificial Intelligence-illuminating the very human need for communication, connection, and understanding.

A young Puritan woman travels to the New World with her unwanted new husband. Alan Turing, the renowned mathematician and code breaker, writes letters to his best friend's mother. A Jewish refugee and professor of computer science struggles to reconnect with his increasingly detached wife. An isolated and traumatized young girl exchanges messages with an intelligent software program. A former Silicon Valley Wunderkind is imprisoned for creating illegal lifelike dolls.

Each of these characters is attempting to communicate across gaps-to estranged spouses, lost friends, future readers, or a computer program that may or may not understand them.

In electrifying prose, Louisa Hall explores how the chasm between computer and human-shrinking rapidly with today's technological advances-echoes the gaps that exist between ordinary people. Though each speaks from a distinct place and moment in time, all five characters share the need to express themselves while simultaneously wondering if they will ever be heard, or understood.

"Stunning and audacious . . . It's not just one of the smartest books of the year, it's one of the most beautiful ones." - NPR

"Speak gazes boldly forward and lovingly back in order to report on the nature of what it means to be human now." - Elle