Book review: 'A peculiar tale about the most unlikely of meaningful connections'

‘Heartwarming’ and ‘Science fiction’ are not words often put together, but then this peculiar, beautiful little book is about the most unlikely of meaningful connections.

Gently asking what it is to be human and whether AI appliances can, or will, begin to display empathetic humanity.

In a self-running smart house, a young sentient vacuum listens as her owner, Harold, reads aloud to his dying wife, Edie.

Mesmerised by ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and craving human connection, the little vacuum renames herself Scout and embarks on a journey of self-discovery.

But when Edie passes away, Scout and her fellow appliances discover that the omnipresent Grid, which monitors every household, wants to displace Harold from the home he's lived in for fifty years.

With the help of a neighbourhood boy, and Harold and Edie's daughter, the humans and the appliances must come together to outwit the Grid before they lose everything they hold dear.

One for the foodies, ‘Lonely Mouth’ is a Japanese expression capturing that feeling when you want something to eat, but you just cannot work out what it is that will satisfy or if you are even hungry at all. A dilemma that is a metaphor for life – having an itch; but lacking the ability to scratch it effectively.

Matilda knows about hunger. She works in one of Sydney's buzziest restaurants, Bocca, while suppressing her cravings, including for her celebrity chef boss, Colson.

Everything in her life is tightly controlled: she allows herself one weekend a month to feast and purge, the rest of the time, she stays perfect. That is, until her younger half-sister Lara crashes back into town, stirring up the family’s chaotic past and bringing long-buried family secrets to the surface.

This is a slice of family drama that oozes with dysfunction, balancing chaos with delicious humour.