Girlfriend on Mars
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- $129.00
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- $129.00
Descripción editorial
'Every detail is sharply placed ... a scorching sense of humor and a soft spot for humanity down here on Earth' The New York Times
'Fleishman Is In Trouble, but in space' Bobby Palmer
A NEW YORK TIMES READERS' FAVOURITE OF 2023
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE
Kevin is a thirtysomething homebody, happily committed to his hydroponics-expert girlfriend, Amber, as they grow weed in their basement in Vancouver.
Out of the blue, Amber announces that she has been selected for a reality show where she will compete for one of two seats on the first human-led mission to Mars. If selected, she must stay on Mars for good, because the technology to come home doesn't exist yet. Is this a suicide mission or a bold new frontier?
Girlfriend on Mars is the story of love unravelling in a world where truth is dictated by Facebook ads and 'reality TV' is as scripted as any politician's speech. With rapt viewers voting for Amber to stay on the show and crates of Mars-mission branded protein shakes arriving at his door, is it any wonder Kevin wants to stay in the basement forever?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Willis braids reality television and the climate crisis with billionaire-sponsored space travel in her breezy speculative debut. Amber Kivinen and Kevin Watkins, both 31, have been dating since they were teens, and they now run a marijuana-growing business out of their Vancouver apartment. In Kevin's view, they've "committed to going nowhere," so he's surprised when Amber decides to participate in a reality television program, "a Survivor-meets-Star Trek amalgam," where two winners will be rocketed to Mars. Amber's facility with hydroponics makes her well suited for the MarsNow mission, the brainchild of billionaire Geoff Task, a combination Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, whom Kevin describes as "slim and pale, with a regal neck only a guillotine could love." As Amber advances further in the competition she begins to fall for hunky Adam, who, as the child of Orthodox Jewish settlers in the West Bank, can relate to Amber's conservative Christian upbringing. Kevin, likewise, begins a fledgling relationship with the couple's friend Bronwyn, a white woman who wears her hair in dreadlocks. Willis keeps up a light tone and a fast pace even while getting deep into the science behind the Mars voyage, and her satire yields plenty of clever insights on celebrity culture. Readers are in for a treat.
