Well that took some wide, unexpected turns. This was my first Heinlein novel. I’m not usually interested in sci-fi, and never would have read this if it weren’t for the family connection. (My grandma was his first cousin.) But I’ve seen the light. He tackles so many things in this book: technology’s advance, and its criticism, theology, psychology, cultural prejudices.

I read briefly about feminist criticism of Heinlein’s oeuvre. The older male, younger female relationships certainly smack of a sincere portrayal of the cultural base “Mad Men” satirized. There are small glimpses of a more mature feminism as well as LBTQ+ acceptance, but I may be forcing the optimism on my distant cousin. The sudden insertion of an extremely violently racist phrase (by a “bad guy”) at the end was incongruently disturbing to readers 60 years on.

It won’t be my last Heinlein.