Gwyneth Jones 
Divine Endurance 

Chosen Among The Beautiful – Cho, for short – has been alone her whole life. Orphaned, she was raised by machines, with her cat, Divine Endurance, for company. When an earthquake destroys her isolated shelter, Cho leaves to find her long lost brother, cat in tow. She finds herself in a land torn apart by warring gangs, clans and princes, revolutionaries and outcasts, all under the thumb of the distance Rulers, reduced to petty in-fighting to try and gain any power at all. Divine Endurance seeks out the Rulers; Cho instead finds Derveet, a rebel leader. She finds love. Can there be a future for them in this brutal world? What does Cho really know about humanity after being separated from it all her life? What does she even know about herself?