Ok, it took me a while to get around to commenting on this one, for one simple reason: I have a lot of negative things to say.
I
hate when that happens.
So, first of all - and maybe my vague elitism is showing here - I have a hard time believing in grown people who are stupid enough to believe that a clone will
be in any meaningful sense the original. When Jenny One insists "you don't know that" and doctor-daughter admits "no, we don't," I wanted to scream at the radio - in fact, I think I did scream at the radio - "yes we do, you morons, we do!" There is absolutely no reason to believe that a clone will be the same person as the original. Similar in some ways, yes, but actually the original? No.
Maybe there are people this ignorant in the world, but if there are, I have a hard time connecting to them.
Secondly, I had a very hard time sympathizing with any of the characters except the daughter until the very end. When the mother laughed and said "mommies all the way back" I snickered and said "you mean selfish bitches all the way back." Jenny One was incredibly selfish and controlling and Adrian was no better. I thought Jenny One's attempt to dominate her children from beyond the grave was execrable and Adrian's reasons for having a child were dangerously self-centered. I'm glad the story didn't go there, but kind of surprised that Jenny Two didn't end up abused or neglected thanks to Adrian's deep and unresolved anger issues.
The ending redeemed this issue somewhat by dealing with it, but in a sense it was too little too late. Sure, Adrian got shown up and had to (finally) come face to face with the reality of her mediocre parenting - that's something all parents have to do, eventually, even the ones who weren't really mediocre parents
- but I spent almost the entire story disliking her and actively wanting her to shut up, go to a shrink, or possibly get hit by a bus.
. . .
You know, on retrospect, I should probably admit that I had an extremely controlling mother. I moved to California (from New York!) after college to get away from her. Despite not being a clone of my dead grandfather, this story
might have struck a chord with me. This is likewise a redeeming characteristic - strong reactions ~= good art - but not enough to tip me over into a positive review.
