The Control Problem

Winner of the 2024 Next Generation Indie Book Award in the Science Fiction Category

A sleek, absorbing tale of motherhood, feminism, and the potential dangers of technology. - Kirkus Reviews

Libraries and readers looking for a blend of women’s literature, hard sci-fi, and social examination will find Vera’s story in The Control Problem to be enlightening, eerily akin to some forms of modern angst, and impossible to put down. - D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

Vera Elpis is a quiet young woman with a desk job, two friends, and a cozy apartment. On the surface, her life is easy. Children adore her, her inheritance sustains her, and she is safe. The only blight is her unexplained infertility, a condition that shames and enrages her.

In her lonely quest for motherhood, Vera fails to appreciate her own peculiarity. What happened before she moved here? How does she always know the weather forecast? And why doesn’t her cousin Jennifer, an executive at a secretive tech firm, trust her?

THE CONTROL PROBLEM tells of a woman who learns she is less than she thought and more than she realized. Who will she become when her goal is lost? What path will she take?

© 2023 Norah Woodsey (Audiobook): 9780997333954

Release date

Audiobook: 1 February 2023