MEM

MEM by Bethany C. Morrow (2018) 189 pages

Are you a fan of the Netflix series Black Mirror? You might like this. This short novel is set in the 1920s and doesn't feel as dystopian. A scientist has discovered a way for people to extract memories. The MEMs are zombie-like pale copies of the original person that just re-experience the emotional core of the memory until they expire. Except for Dolores Extract #1, who chooses the name Elsie to distinguish herself. She breaks all the rules by remembering all of her source's memories and has the unique ability to remember new experiences. Is she fully human? The mystery of her existence in a non-linear timeline with profound questions about identity, memory, and civil liberties are explored with much contemplation.
 

The Painted Veil

 The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham (1925) 246 pages

Set in the 1920s, this novel follows Kitty, a beautiful young English woman whose mother has high hopes for her to make a great match. But Kitty's mother thinks that each beau who woos Kitty isn't good enough. When Kitty is 25, in a panic, she marries Walter Fane and moves to Hong Kong, where he's a bacteriologist who works for the government. When Walter discovers she's having an affair, he gives Kitty a choice: if her lover will divorce his wife and marry Kitty, Walter will give Kitty a divorce. Otherwise, Kitty must follow him to an area in China which lost its only doctor to cholera, and where cholera is still raging. Heartbroken when her lover won't leave his wife, Kitty goes into the heartland of China with Walter. The story finally takes off and Kitty begins to show some character.