The Future Eve

The novel that first gave the world the word 'android' imagines a flawless artificial woman built by a great inventor to save his heartbroken friend from ruin.

First published in 1886 as L'Eve future, this philosophical romance by Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam – a central figure of the French Symbolist and Decadent movements – follows the melancholy Lord Ewald, who turns to a fictionalised Thomas Edison after losing faith in his beautiful but shallow lover. Edison offers a startling remedy: a lifelike automaton indistinguishable from a living muse. Blending metaphysical enquiry with dark satire on desire, illusion, and modern love, it stands among the founding works of the genre and remains one of the most haunting meditations on our longing to manufacture the perfect companion.