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Halfway to Free (Out of Line collection) by [Emma Donoghue]

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Emma Donoghue

Halfway to Free (Out of Line collection) Kindle Edition

by Emma Donoghue (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

368 ratings

Book 5 of 7: Out of Line

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Audible narration by Samira Wiley (The Handmaid’s Tale)
Raising a family is the ultimate luxury as the human race teeters on the brink of extinction in this visionary short story by Emma Donoghue, the bestselling author of Room.

Miriam was raised in a society without children. To offset the devastation of climate change, state-of-the-art birth control has made daycares and playgrounds things of the past. As tempting as the government inducements are to remain child-free, Miriam’s curiosity about the people who “drop out” of society to become parents grows. When she finds a like-minded partner, she must choose between the rewarding comforts she knows and the unknowable mysteries of being a mother.

Emma Donoghue’s Halfway to Free is part of Out of Line, an incisive collection of funny, enraging, and hopeful stories of women’s empowerment and escape. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.

Print length

31 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Amazon Original Stories
Publication date

September 1, 2020
File size

3958 KB
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Emma Donoghue is a playwright, literary historian, screenwriter, and international bestselling novelist. She is the author of Akin, Hood, The Wonder, multiple story collections, and the New York Times bestseller Room, a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, which she adapted into the Academy Award–winning film of the same name.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08DRC4GQK
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Amazon Original Stories (September 1, 2020)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 1, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3958 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 31 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #148,023 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #51 in 45-Minute Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Reads
- #53 in Kindle Singles: Science Fiction & Fantasy
- #82 in Science Fiction (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
368 ratings

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Emma Donoghue

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Born in Dublin in 1969, Emma Donoghue is a writer of contemporary and historical fiction whose novels include the international bestseller "Room" (her screen adaptation was nominated for four Oscars), "Frog Music", "Slammerkin," "The Sealed Letter," "Landing," "Life Mask," "Hood," and "Stirfry." Her story collections are "Astray", "The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits," "Kissing the Witch," and "Touchy Subjects." She also writes literary history, and plays for stage and radio. She lives in London, Ontario, with her partner and their two children.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5

368 global ratings

5 star		40%
4 star		31%
3 star		22%
2 star		3%
1 star		4%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Exploring a big “what if”

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 14, 2022

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There have been a number of stories about the science fictional idea that the human population is dying out, variations of women no longer being able to get pregnant. “Halfway to Free” takes a different angle: that humans decided collectively to stop having children at all, aided by technological advances. In this story, a couple is deciding whether to break all the rules and have a baby. An intriguing premise, along with some fun speculation about what such a future would be like. Still, it feels a bit too much like an imaginative writing exercise, too light on the character side.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 29, 2023

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What if people decided to give up reproducing to decrease the population for the sake of the earth? What if they questioned the rules? What does it mean to be free?

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 12, 2020

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I have read only 1 book by this author, so this gave me a chance to read a bit more. It was good enough that I am now going to read a couple more of her books.

4 people found this helpful

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Jess

Unoriginal and boring

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 22, 2021

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Did not bother to finish a story that’s already been told. I did read the last few pages to see that it ended as I expected it would. I cannot stand stealing ideas from great writers. It’s just The Handmaid’s Tale but poorly written. Do not recommend!

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Jessica Johnson

4 Star Dystopian Short Story!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 14, 2022

Taking place in 2060, I would rather this short story be a full-length novel as all the beginnings of a dystopian tale will leave the reader thinking. The world that Miriam lives in is overpopulated and having a child is looked down upon. NOT having a child is the acceptable choice and only the extremely wealthy or celebrities procreate. There are even government incentives, support and more to stay child free. This includes having health care, housing, and even employment. There are still those that go against the grain and decide to procreate thus losing everything. Those form their own communities to pull through together.

Miriam has come to a crossroads in her life with what she should do and what she wants to do. She and her partner have to come to a decision.

This short story really makes you think with everything going on in this dystopian world, why would someone want to have a child as there is so much to lose. This story with its ‘anti-children’ stance parallels what goes on in our world today if one does not have a child, whether due to life circumstances or health reasons.

I really hope that Donoghue decides to expand upon this short story, there is so much poten-tial here!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 12, 2022

This story is just right for now as we question many of our decisions in the midst of climate change crises. The author hits the nail on the head.

Helpful

a conversation starter

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 10, 2022

Halfway to Free is a very interesting short story. Immediately after reading I thought this should be a school requirement. So many people having kids irresponsibly and thinking nothing of it. Our society condoning it. Yet people that can't have kids pine for them. Our planet and society suffers. Anyway, this story sparks quite a conversation too many of us do not have, and should. Loved it.

Helpful

Kindle Customer

Freedom from versus freedom to

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 24, 2020

It's 2060 and the world is finally on the right path to reduce carbon footprints and manage the population. The biggest contributor to this success was the end of random procreation. Now people are paid to live childless lives, and only the rich and royal have children. But Ned and Miriam are wondering if they've given up too much in the name of global citizenship. What if they want to be parents? What does that mean to their futures?

Donoghue addresses the idea of population control, social engineering, and the danger of wearables in the not so distant future. It's making an environmental difference, but at what cost? The story explores perspectives from an older generation who lived through the "old ways", as well as the current generation who don't know any better, and examines the tough questions that surround the issues. One of those is whether we are conditioned towards certain behaviors vs them being truly ingrained in our humanity. I felt like the ending was inevitable, but even more I realized that dystopian fiction is feeling more realistic than it used to. Halfway to Free is a stark reminder that giving up individual liberties always has unforseen consequences.

As to the Out of Line collection, most of the stories have been really good, but it does concern me that most of the stories continue to center around motherhood. I would like to have seen less emphasis on motherhood vs everything else in the world and more about other women's issues.

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Manali Desai

An eerily close to possibility future version of our world, where the population must be controlled so only the rich can afford babies.

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on September 30, 2022

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My rating: 4.5/5
It's 2060 and the world's population has crossed its optimum limit. To bring the devastation of climate change and over-the-limit humanity under control, the government provides tempting benefits and incentives to people who choose to remain child-free. Despite the comfort that this choice provides, Miriam is curious about life as a parent and in her quest to find out more, she finds a partner and also some answers to what life as an outcast would look like.

Bavya

Interesting read

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on January 2, 2023

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Terrific concept to think of .. Loved the idea and while concept that can take us through a futuristic world within just few pages.. I mean it would have been never be possible it were a movie

Julia

Nice short story

Reviewed in Australia 🇦🇺 on December 11, 2021

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Nice fun quick read. The story really made me think and I liked it. I recommend it to anyone .

Akshat

Be careful what you wish for

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on June 12, 2021

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I felt claustrophobic inside" half way to free". A well designed short-fiction set in future where the social engineering does not allow you to bear children.

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