Girlfriend on Mars by Deborah Willis

Amber Kivinen is moving to Mars. Or at least, she will be if she wins a chance to join MarsNow. She and twenty-three reality TV contestants from around the worldincluding a handsome Israeli, an endearing fellow Canadian, and an assortment of science nerds and wannabe influencersare competing for two seats on the first human-led mission to Mars, sponsored by billionaire Geoff Task. Meanwhile Kevin, Amber's boyfriend of fourteen years, was content going nowhere until Amber left himand their hydroponic weed businessbehind. As he tends to the plants growing in their absurdly overpriced Vancouver basement apartment, Kevin tunes in to find out why the love of his life is so determined to leave the planet with somebody else.

An audaciously original debut from an "immensely talented writer" (Emily St. John Mandel),Girlfriend on Marsis at once a satirical indictment of our pursuit of fame and wealth amidst environmental crisis, and an exploration of humanity's deepest longing, greatest quest, and most enduring clich: love. (From Hamish Hamilton)

Girlfriend on Mars is on the 2023 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist.

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Deborah Willis is awriter fromCalgary.Willis debuted in 2009 withVanishing and Other Storieswhichwas shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award. She followed it up with a collection of short fiction entitledThe Dark and Other Love Storiesin 2017, which was longlisted for the ScotiabankGiller Prizeand won the Georges Bugnet Award for best work of fiction published in Alberta.

Other books by Deborah Willis