Spare and Found Parts

Spare and Found Parts is a dystopian, coming-of-age science fiction novel set in a future Dublin devastated by an epidemic. The protagonist is Nell Crane, a young woman living in a society where survivors are often missing body parts (an arm, a leg, an eye), which have been replaced by biomechanical limbs created by her father, a renowned scientist. Nell is an outcast in this world, as she is the only one with machinery inside her: her own biomechanical heart implanted in childhood, which "beats like a clock, like a pump." As adulthood approaches, Nell is expected to make her own "contribution" to society. Sarah Maria Griffin's work is a brilliant tale about growing up, the need to fit in, monstrosity, and the search for identity in a post-apocalyptic world filled with intriguing ideas about humanity and technology.