AND AGAIN

In the spirit of Never Let Me Go and The Age of Miracles, a debut novel about four previously terminally ill people who must grapple with the reality of reentering their lives after being granted genetically perfect copies of their former bodies, and the unimaginable consequences and entanglements that follow...

AND AGAIN is the story of four terminally ill patients who are given genetically perfect bodies as part of a pilot program called SUBlife. Their new bodies are exact replicas of their old selves—without imperfections. Blemishes, scars, freckles, and lines have disappeared, their fingerprints are different, their vision is impeccable, and their illnesses have been cured.

But the medical miracle that granted them perfect bodies and a fresh start could also be their undoing. Because their old bodies no longer exist, their new physical identities have no memories. Their muscles have to be retrained to move, food tastes different, their bodies react with fright and anxiety to new stressors, and each of them faces a return to daily life using an entirely new body. Hannah, an artistic prodigy has to relearn how to hold a brush; David, a Congressman grapples with his old habits; Connie, an actress whose stunning looks are restored after a protracted illness, tries to navigate an industry obsessed with physical beauty; and Linda, who spent eight years paralyzed after a car accident, now struggles to reconnect with a family that seems to have built a new life without her.

When SUBlife comes up for consideration in Congress, all four patients find the implications of their new lives now hold ramifications for the future of medicine, and David in particular must decide whether opposing the program is worth saving his political career. And Again follows these four ordinary individuals placed in extraordinary circumstances as each attempts to navigate a world fraught with boundless possibilities, unimaginable risks, and grave consequences.

Jessica Chiarella grew up in the Chicago area and has a Master's in Writing and Publishing from DePaul University. She is currently a student in the University of California, Riverside's MFA in Creative Writing program, where she received the Chancellor's Distinguished Fellowship Award.