Ward has achieved something quite extraordinary: a super-smart, metaphysical romp that's also warm, wistful and heartfelt." —Daily Telegraph (UK) The ten stories, which are closely interconnected, revolve around modern families. The couple Eliza and Rachel and their son, Arthur, are central figures. The first story focuses on the relationship between the couple. But the success of Ward’s venture inevitably depends on the quality of the writing. This is often moving, exuberant and sensitive. We care about her characters and share their hopes and fears. Ward’s investigation and practice of empathy is easily the best thing in the book. Reading Love and Other Thought Experiments, not least the virtuoso chapter in which the narrator impersonates the ant’s thought processes, I couldn’t help recalling George Eliot’s squirrel in Middlemarch. “If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing ... the squirrel’s heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence.” Each of the book's 10 main chapters could almost be a short story in its own right. Each is at least partially an illustration of a philosophical thought experiment which is introduced first, and although there are connections and an overall narrative of sorts, there are numerous inconsistencies and alternative pathways - the reasons for that become clearer towards the end.

At this, Rachel’s friends would laugh. She was so much more relaxed since she had the baby, they said. Being a mother had really brought out the best in her. If you love me, you will trust me,’ Rachel said. ‘Don’t you?’ A small thing. Agree and they could both move into their new relationship in which Eliza had accepted Rachel completely. A small thing and a big thing in one word.And through all these the book asks: who are we; what does it mean to experience the world; how can we really know other people or even really know ourselves and our own reality.

Rachel told you she thinks something is living inside her head and for some time you went along with this belief.’ Dr Marshall wrote in her notepad and returned to the two women. ‘What’s changed?’ It feels to me like this is a book that would reward a re-read. Knowing where it is heading would probably reveal some earlier connections that you miss on first reading. Why did we come here?’ Rachel looked directly at Eliza. ‘You have to decide. We can’t run away, move to another new house, start again. You have to decide.’

Sophie Ward is a dazzling talent who writes like a modern-day F Scott Fitzgerald’ Elizabeth Day, author of How To Fail This was their first visit although they had spoken to Dr Marshall on the phone. As they walked into the consulting room, Eliza searched for clues to the personality of the doctor in whom she had placed her trust. She glanced at the bookshelves and framed certificates on the wall, and noted the way the therapist walked to the best chair and waited for her clients to sit across from her. Eliza saw she had entered a temple to which she did not belong. This is the story of an untraditional family told in an untraditional way. The family is untraditional because a lesbian married couple (Rachel and Eliza) decide to have a child using sperm donated by one half of another gay married couple (Hal and Greg). This child, with two fathers and two mothers, becomes gradually more and more central to the story and discovering that centrality is both intellectually stimulating and emotional. The beautiful marriage relationship between central characters (Rachel and Eliza), and indeed the different versions of their selves, is so sensitively rendered. Including some stunning passages in which it is mediated by an Ant. Yes, an Ant! I shall say no more about the Ant so as to avoid spoliers, but this nonhuman consciousness is fascinating and in terms of imagery and metaphor creates a very deep and sophisticated meditation on the nature of life and our connection with that which is other to humanity (and asks is it indeed other to humanity). On this I concur with the Guardian review by Stevie Davies that notes: "Reading Love and Other Thought Experiments, not least the virtuoso chapter in which the narrator impersonates the ant’s thought processes, I couldn’t help recalling George Eliot’s squirrel in Middlemarch. “If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing ... the squirrel’s heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence.” I also immediately thought of Eliot's famous squirrel passage when reading Ward's "Ant chapter".

Rachel laughed and wiped at the wetness that had pooled around her nose and mouth. ‘You! You can do anything. You’d rule the world if you wanted to. With those legs.’ Love and Other Thought Experiments is one of the 2020 Booker Prize Longlisted books by seasoned actor and debut novelist, Sophie Ward. The book tells the story of a lesbian couple Eliza and Rachel, who one night, have a bit of a misunderstanding. Rachel feels that an ant has managed to get into her eye while Eliza, who is the more practical of the two, thinks that Rachel is making a mountain of a molehill. However, the sensation of the ant remains in the eye of Rachel, which is always refuted by Eliza. Until the day, they realize that Rachel has a tumour or cancer in that very same eye. I always follow the Booker Prize and read the Longlisted books. This is the first book that I read from the Longlisted Booker Prize books of 2020, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The novel flirts with philosophy in a really fun and accessible way. It’s by no means a serious, high-minded deep dive (so anyone looking for that might be disappointed). This is first and foremost a character-driven story. Each chapter begins with a brief description of a famous philosophical argument or thought experiment, and a quotation. These function like epigraphs, giving the reader a little food for thought and priming them for the chapter that follows. This approach guides the narrative but doesn’t overwhelm it.We have a range of narrators in two different senses: some are not human, others are the “same person” but in a different “realization”. We also have a range not only of times but of planets and even realities. I don’t know. An eye person? Or that hospital for tropical diseases?’ Rachel looked quite happy at the thought. ‘Maybe it’s a kind of ant that we don’t know about here.’ Maybe later.’ Eliza pushed at the tiny door and tried to steady herself as she climbed out. ‘I’m dizzy. Aren’t you?’ No. It’s not.’ Rachel stood straight up. ‘It’s us. You and me. You promised and now you’ve changed your mind.’ It’s rare for me to fall for a novel that could be called ‘experimental’ but this genuinely blew my mind.” —The Literary Sofa