Obstetrix

[psocoptera]

Obstetrix, Naomi Kritzer, 2026 novella. Not really speculative - if I had to categorize it I guess I would call it a medical thriller, although mostly I think of those as more like Michael Crichton or Robin Cook which actually often did have more of a speculative element, at least the ones I've read - but since Kritzer is generally a sff author and it was published by Tordotcom it probably caucuses with sff? Anyways, it's really good, extremely intense, I read it in a single afternoon/evening, as close to a single sitting as I could manage, and (major spoiler) burst into hysterical relieved tears at the climax. It would make a nice movie with a good juicy starring role for a middle-aged actress (Ashley Judd? Laura Dern? Carrie-Anne Moss? they'd basically be carrying the movie, whoever it was), although if they did make a movie I can think of at least three ways they'd probably ruin it, so... perhaps not.