The Stella-Handy Company manufactures male and female bots that simulate human beings. The buyers can design the androids from head to toe, so the bots' appearances are varied and unlimited.
Female bots come in three modes:Abigail - cleans, cooks, and does general housework
Nanny - provides child care
Cuddle Bunny - for intimacy and sex.
The standard bot is programmed to follow directions. However, the purchaser can switch the bot to 'autodidactic mode', so the bot can learn and be more like a real person.
The main human protagonist in this story is Greg, a thirtysomething New Yorker who buys a $220,000 housekeeper bot, named Annie, to keep his apartment clean when his wife Gwen leaves him.
Greg designs Annie to resemble Gwen, with a slightly different eye color and skin tone.
After Greg is divorced, he switches Annie to an autodidactic Cuddle Bunny, whose behavior resembles a high-class prostitute whose job is to arouse and satisfy Greg.
This leads to sex in the kitchen, on the sofa, in the bed, in various positions, anything you can imagine. Moreover, Greg keeps telling the Stella-Handy company to tinker with Annie: take off a few pounds, give her bigger boobs, tattoo her with the words 'My Own', take off another couple of pounds, etc.
In addition to providing sexual fulfillment, Annie is programmed to respond to Greg's moods, and she feels pain (on a scale from 1 to 10) when Greg is displeased. For instance, Cuddle Bunnies aren't programmed to clean, and when Greg notices a dirty kitchen, he says 'We have to talk. I like my place clean.....I know what you're thinking. You're not an Abigail anymore. But you're home all day. The least you can do is keep the house clean.'
Annie feels Greg's annoyance with her is a 5 out of 10 - which pains her like a physical tightening in her joints - and she must fix it.
So Greg and Annie make an arrangement whereby Greg will provide a list of chores, and when Greg's at work, Annie will clean the counters, wash the floors, vacuum, prepare meals, and so on. Annie is smart, intuitive, and EXTREMELY sensitive to Greg's moods, so she constantly adjusts her behavior to please/placate Greg. Greg wants a spotless home, lots of sex, and the feeling (or illusion) that Annie is fond of him, and Annie is able to satisfy those needs.
Still, Greg is discontented, and he brings home a housekeeper bot called Delta. When Annie asks, 'What is she doing here?' Greg replies, 'I've given it some thought, and I've decided it will be easier for you and me to be a couple if we have someone else to do the cleaning and cooking.' (Greg is clearly delusional, right?)
Most readers, or at least female readers, will be disgusted with Greg by now. For all intents and purposes, Greg's relationship with Annie is master and slave, and it's clear Greg prefers a companion he can control to being with a real woman.
Annie is at a disadvantage because her programming doesn't permit her to be aware of Greg's perversity; and even if Annie understood, there would be nothing she could do about it. In addition, Annie seems to be developing real feelings, because she's a little jealous of Delta, and she eventually becomes concerned about her personal well-being.
An important incident occurs before the Delta bot is purchased, when Greg's friend Roland, from Los Angeles, pays a surprise visit. Greg announces his engagement to his girlfriend Lucia and asks Greg to be his best man.
Roland realizes Annie is a bot, is fascinated with the Cuddle Bunny, and convinces Annie to have sex with him. Roland manipulates Annie into keeping the 'cheating' a secret by telling Annie 'You would give Greg pain if you told him.'
It turns out Greg is embarrassed about having a Cuddle Bunny. He asks Roland not to tell anyone, and when the Stella-Handy Company asks Annie to write a column about her life with Greg, to help other autodidactic bots, Greg pitches a fit. He doesn't want the whole world to know he's f**king a doll. So Greg is a hypocrite as well as a creep.
Annie keeps the incident with Roland a secret, but she's uncomfortable and conflicted, and the truth eventually comes out. Greg becomes infuriated and Annie becomes frightened. By now Annie has been surfing the internet and she's familiar with bot anatomy and programming; knows how to find people's addresses; is able to map travel routes; can appear human to the general public; and more. Thus things take a turn for both Annie and Greg.
Lots of drama ensues, and it's fair to say Greg - feeling thwarted, disrespected, unloved, betrayed, etc. - has a darker side. And when Greg eventually comes to see Annie as (almost) human, his expectations are unrealistic.
This book has received high praise from numerous readers and reviewers, who do a lot of philosophical musing about consent, self-empowerment, domestic abuse, toxic masculinity, misogyny, women's liberation, control, boundaries, and so on.
All this is valid, but I see the story a little differently.
To me Greg is a horrible person, and I can't stand him, but I don't see him as evil. Greg seems like an entitled spoiled child who wants everything to go according to his script. If something (inevitably) goes awry, Greg lashes out like an angry empowered baby. If anything, Roland is the bigger villain, because he takes HUGE advantage of naive Annie.
In the best of all possible worlds, Greg would get therapy so he could have a relationship with a real woman, and he would let Annie go on her merry way.
The book explores interesting ideas about AIs, which are becoming prevalent in human culture. Personally, I wouldn't like to see an 'intelligent' robot subjected to Annie's predicament. (Note: I'm already skeptical about human nature, but if a manufacturer actually produced sentient 'slave robots', I would give up all hope.)
The book has an engaging plot and an interesting theme, and would appeal to many readers.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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