A very worthwile and timely read.
This story is a great thought experiment about technology, environmental questions, concentration of power, artificial intelligence, society, and our time (or the time that we will soon be in) in general. But it is not a dry philosophical essay. Naomi Alderman manages to turn it into a captivating story with lots of thriller elements, while again and again sneaking in statements that are not necessarily new, ideas but nevertheless full of wisdom.
The author certainly has her finger on the pulse of the time, and it is a bit eerie how Alderman picks topics for her novels that then to some degree almost emerge in parallel with her writing.

On the wooden bench close to the right riverbank

Just caught today while on vacation in Switzerland! I live in the United States so I plan to release it somewhere back home after I read it!