It’s a question that’s been asked since the debate for and against abortion came into existence: Would you give birth to your rapist’s baby? This is the exact inquiry Alison McGhee raises in her latest novel, The Opposite of Fate. However, McGhee shifts her scenario with a wild card: What if you were in a coma and couldn’t make the decision yourself?
This is what happens to Mallie Williams in McGhee’s new novel. She’s a 23-year-old woman who is sexually assaulted one night and left for dead. With a life-threatening brain injury, Mallie slips into a coma. Soon after, it’s discovered that the assault has left her pregnant. The people around her — family, friends, loved ones, strangers and busy-bodies alike — play a legal tug-of-war, while Mallie lies unconscious, with what should be the biggest, most important decision of her life.
“You had to fight. You had to fight darkness with what you had in you to fight."--Alison McGhee, The Opposite of Fate
The Opposite of Fate does not shy away from tackling the controversial topic of female reproduction rights. It takes us right into the depths of all the unexplored gray areas the topic of abortion entails. McGhee never once allows herself to choose a side, or even try to influence her reader, allowing the events of the story simply to unfold. She maneuvers the weight of this tight-rope topic with grace and unwavering symmetry. Instead of attempting to persuade us either way, she teaches us how very individualistic the topic of abortion actually is and how, perhaps, there just isn’t a correct, one-size-fits-all answer to drape over the entire female population.
The Opposite of Fate also carries another message, perhaps more pervasive throughout the story than the first. It teaches us that at the end of the day the story of our lives comes down to our choices. Even when we are dealt a bad hand, a hand beyond our control, the decision of how we carry on is still up to us. We always have the option to keep moving forward as best we can.