The First Century After Beatrice

A French entomologist, attending a symposium in Cairo, finds a curious kind of bean on a market stall. It is claimed the beans, derived from the scarab beetle, have magic powers; specifically the power to guarantee the birth of a male infant. When the entomologist does some research into the matter, discovering that the incidence of female birth has become increasingly rare, he is left in no doubt that the world has entered a critical phase of its history.

As his beloved daughter Beat…