Publisher's Synopsis
A bleak future world, where most women are barren, and social status (and survival) literally hinges upon the number and quality of eggs each family can produce. Mary, a girl on the cusp of discovering her fate in the lottery of fertility, tries to manage her complicated family situation, and contain her growing frustration with the overbearing society that controls everything in everyone's lives. As each new stage of discovery passes in her life, we see more of the webs and complications that choke personal freedoms, and hold everyone in check. She suddenly discovers that she is in a unique position to have an effect on this world, just as she finds her life is in danger from the two most powerful factions in the city. Protected by an unfamiliar bodyguard, instructed by an elder who has gone through the process of womanhood before, Mary must try to find a balance between her goals, and avoiding destruction (or outright death) at the hands of her enemies.
