The Marriage Act
The unmissable speculative thriller from the author of The One
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- € 5,99
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'Impossible to put down' – Alex Michaelides, author of The Fury
What if marriage was the law? Dare you disobey? The Marriage Act is a dark, high-concept thriller from bestselling author of The One, John Marrs.
'A page-turning and thought-provoking read' – Daily Mirror
Britain. The near future. A right-wing government believes it has the answer to society’s ills – the Sanctity of Marriage Act, which actively encourages marriage as the norm, punishing those who choose to remain single.
But four couples are about to discover just how impossible relationships can be when the government is supervising every aspect of our personal lives, monitoring every word, every minor disagreement – and will use every tool in its arsenal to ensure everyone will love, honour and obey . . .
Black Mirror meets thriller with a dash of Naomi Alderman’s The Power.
'Few writers do domestic suspense meets dystopia better than John Marrs' – Lucy Foley, author of The Midnight Feast
'Clever, compelling and terrifyingly plausible' – C. J. Tudor, author of A Sliver of Darkness
'Brilliantly tricksy' – Liz Nugent, author of Strange Sally Diamond
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Marrs (Keep It in the Family) delivers a smart Orwellian thriller set in a near-future U.K. where the financial impact of several pandemics has led to drastic measures. Multiple economic reboots failed, leading the government to conclude that it could only turn things around by "making people understand that they're better off emotionally and financially when they're in a committed relationship," which would make "them want to work smarter and harder." Now incentives, including tax breaks and increased access to medical care, reward those who sign up for a "Smart Marriage," an arrangement which includes consenting to AI devices being placed in married couples' homes to randomly record conversations and send alerts when they detect potential problems between spouses. The impact of living in a world where privacy is minimal and those not "smart married" face discrimination is cleverly explored through several vividly portrayed characters, including vlogger Roxi, who wants government surveillance to be expanded, and Corrine, a member of the resistance to the oppressive regime. Marrs builds on techno-dystopian ideas explored in prior books (there are Easter eggs connecting this outing to both The One and The Passengers) to craft a scarily plausible world. Readers will be riveted.
