The Cloning of Joanna May

Joanna May was once married to Carl May, the wealthy CEO of a nuclear energy corporation, but they have been divorced for ten years after Joanna was caught in an incidental love affair. Carl arranged an "accident" for the lover and summarily locked Joanna out of all their homes, consigning her to an apartment. Since then, Carl May has done everything in his power to make Joanna's life difficult. When Joanna decides she's had enough, and pays a visit to her former husband, she is in for a surprise – Carl May has made several clones of her. Carl plans to take one or more of the clones as Joanna's replacement. The clones have been raised by foster parents without knowing each other. Each has become an archetype: an active career woman, a model with an icy disdain for men, a childless married woman contemplating an affair, and a mother trying to protect her children from their violent father. Carl's plans backfire when they meet each other and their "mother".

Sub-plots in the book involve Carl's current mistress, a "kept woman" passed from one rich patron to another, and Carl's past life. He was brought to the UK as a boy from Eastern Europe and abused by foster parents to the point where he was kept in a cage next to a dog. He was freed only when the foster parents were arrested for cruelty to animals. Nobody cared about him as a boy and as a result, he cares nothing for others.