The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe
Report an issue
Tell us what's wrong and we'll take a look.
Thanks – we got it. We'll review and follow up if needed.
Katherine Mortenhoe lives in a near future very similar to the present day. Only in her time, dying from anything but old age is unheard of; death has been cured. So when Katherine is diagnosed with a terminal brain disease brought on by an inability to process an ever increasing volume of sensory input, she immediately becomes a celebrity to the “pain-starved public.” But Katherine rejects her tragic role: She will not agree to be the star of a Human Destiny TV show, her last days will not be documented or broadcast. What she doesn’t realize is that from the moment of diagnosis she’s been watched, not only by television producers but by a new kind of program host, a man with a camera behind his unsleeping eyes.
Like Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, and the television series Black Mirror, The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe is a thrilling psychological drama that is as wise about human nature as it is about the nature of technology.
D G Compton
D G Compton (1930-2023)
David Guy Compton was born in London in 1930. His early works were crime novels published under 'Guy Compton', but he began producing SF as 'D.G. Compton' in 1965 with The Quality of Mercy. His 1970 novel The Steel Crocodile received a Nebula nomination, but it was 1974's The Continuous Catherine Mortenhoe that made his reputation. Eerily predictive of the 21st century's obsessions with media voyeurism and 'reality television', it was filmed as Death Watch in 1980.
More by D G Compton
Why Readwise Books?
Readwise Books is an ebook & audiobook platform that automatically logs how much you and your friends read, making it fun and easy to read more. Learn more →