Inspired by Judith Jarvis Thomson’s philosophical thought experiment “The Violinist,” this book is a psychological thriller, a horror story that any one of millions of people could experience.

Tom wakes up to find his body’s been hijacked and turned into a human kidney dialysis machine. He has to stay connected to Simon for nine months or Simon will die. Much of the novel is written as dialogue between Tom and the female doctor who did this to him (they met in a bar and he remembers nothing more); Tom and his friend Steve; his girlfriend, Beth; and, eventually, the violinist named Simon. Tom finds he is powerless to take legal or medical action to deal with the situation. At the end of the novel, he has lost almost everything he holds dear and his life is completely, and irrevocably, derailed, and entwined with that of a violinist who no longer wants to work. Considering this situation analogous to an unwanted pregnancy, this book draws out the ethical dimension of a pro-choice position. What Happened to Tom? is ultimately a feminist allegory about women’s reproductive rights.