Jane is sixteen, the pampered only child of Demea, a tall, beautiful, slender, powerful, wealthy single woman of strong character and clear ideas. As Jane says “she has many opinions, which is very restful, as that way I don’t have to have many of my own.” Jane tries to stay clear of analogies, because her mother called one of her favourite analogies ‘uninspired’. Jane is the product of artificial insemination, and was delivered according to the Principta method, which takes three or four hours. Her hair is tinted according to coloressence charting (to create the hue most suited to her) and her weight managed by capsules designed to maintain her as a Venus Media, the slightly voluptuous figure her frame is apparently suited for (according to the Phy-Excellence chart Demea had done when Jane was seven).
Jane has always fallen easily in love, usually with actors, though Clovis says that’s because she wants a father. Clovis is her attractive best friend; he’s mirror-biased, so they’ve never fallen in love, but he has slept with one of the actors Jane thought she was in love with. Jane has six friends – “a balanced number, according to statistics” - half of who have fathers as well as mothers. Apart from Clovis, Jane doesn’t really like her other friends –Davideed, with whom she has little in common (he spends most of the novel studying silting at the equator); the somewhat colourless Chloe; manipulative, deceitful, malicious twins Medea and Jason; and the emotive, dramatic Egyptia. Demea thinks it’s good for Jane to spend time with Egyptia, “who she thinks is insane. This will be stimulating for me, and teach me responsibility toward others.”
Egyptia knows she is talented and destined for greatness, but has not yet found the field in which she will excel. On the way to meet and support Egyptia in her latest venture, acting, Jane catches a flyer into the city. Instead of the usual robot box driving the flyer, this one is driven by a box with an animated head. It tells Jane that Electronic Metals Ltd are introducing new ranges of more humanoid robots. This includes nine Sophisticated Formats (trios of Silver Ionised Locomotive Verisimilitude, Gold Optimum Locomotive Dermatized and Copper-Optimum Pre-Programmed Electronic Robots - SILVER, GOLDER and COPPER respectively), who will be on display throughout the city that day, one at the theatre where Egyptia is auditioning.
When Jane sees Silver she falls irrevocably in love. This novel is their story.
I first read The Silver Metal Lover when I was fourteen or fifteen. I, too, fell in love – with unexpectedly strong-willed Jane, with perfect Silver, and their romantic running away from home, and for years I wanted their apartment, with a rainbow carpet made from sample scraps and a floating whale in the bathroom. Who am I kidding? Part of me still wants that. I read the book several times during my high school years, but have been afraid to read it again in case it was diminished with time and perspective. After reading "Tiger I" last week I decided to risk it, and time has not wearied this beautifully written, bittersweet story of innocence, true love, tragedy and betrayal. Like the very different work of the amazing Kerry Greenwood, anything I write will detract from the brilliance of this perfect book. Read it. - Alex
