
Bonding
Mariel Franklin(Author)
Picador (Publisher)
Published on 12. June 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
352 pages
978-1-0350-1662-4 (ISBN)
Description
'I absolutely loved it' - Zadie Smith, author of White Teeth
'Fast, harsh, smart and fun' - Guardian
Electrifying and darkly funny, Mariel Franklin's debut Bonding is a uniquely modern story of sex, tech and freedom in the messy tangle of our digital age.
Mary is single, jobless, and on her way to Ibiza.
There, at a party, she meets Tom, a brilliant chemist on the verge of launching a new drug that claims to cure the anxieties of modern life.
Back in London after a heady trip, Mary begins going out with Tom and working for her sort-of-ex Lara, who has created innovative dating app designed to revolutionize the industry. As tech and pharma collide, she is forced to question what love and success mean in a world that is hurtling out of control.
'Genuinely thrilling deep-dive into the dystopian future in which we now live' - Saba Sams, author of Gunk
'Fast, harsh, smart and fun' - Guardian
Electrifying and darkly funny, Mariel Franklin's debut Bonding is a uniquely modern story of sex, tech and freedom in the messy tangle of our digital age.
Mary is single, jobless, and on her way to Ibiza.
There, at a party, she meets Tom, a brilliant chemist on the verge of launching a new drug that claims to cure the anxieties of modern life.
Back in London after a heady trip, Mary begins going out with Tom and working for her sort-of-ex Lara, who has created innovative dating app designed to revolutionize the industry. As tech and pharma collide, she is forced to question what love and success mean in a world that is hurtling out of control.
'Genuinely thrilling deep-dive into the dystopian future in which we now live' - Saba Sams, author of Gunk
Reviews / Votes
I absolutely loved it. Anyone interested in the relationship between tech, our bodies and our minds should bump it to the top of their queue immediately -- Zadie Smith, author of <i>The Fraud</i> As relishable as it is terrifying, Bonding is an audacious, hot, deeply uncomfortable and genuinely thrilling deep-dive into the dystopian future in which we now live -- Saba Sams, author of <i>Send Nudes</i> So obviously impressive . . . With its dissident intelligence and its comprehensive vision of a devastated social sphere, Mariel Franklin's Bonding is the work of an author whose importance already feels assured * The Observer * This smart, disturbing debut reads like a nineteenth-century novel of manners for the digital age . . . Franklin has written one of the most stimulating novels I have read * The Times * With dazzling imagination, Franklin fashions cutting-edge concepts, then uses them to pry open the human heart and interrogate the eternal questions therein. Chilling but warm, eagle-eyed yet sweeping, Bonding is a fascinating, ambitious tale for our modern age. -- Andrew Lipstein, author of <i>The Vegan</i> Fast, harsh, smart and fun * Guardian * Somewhere between Big Pharma-topia and dating app start-ups is Bonding's biggest surprise - and it's heart-shaped. Part love story, part love-mare, Bonding asks big, bold questions about the future of human relations and relationships -- Sarah May, author of <i>Becky</i> Franklin's agile, thought-provoking tale throbs with ideas, fears and cautions. * Financial Times * An addictive and unsparing novel. Mariel Franklin contends with some of our most urgent questions . . . a gorgeous, clear-eyed, and terrifying debut, Bonding is a love story for our times. -- Claudia Day, author of <i>Daughter</i> Franklin arranges her vision of the contemporary moment in a way that makes the reader see our predicament anew. She is a seer and this novel of ideas is funny, sexy and surprising. -- Luke Brown, author <i>Theft</i> Franklin is a fearless writer. In Bonding, she has written a novel that is somehow both timely and timeless. -- Keiran Goddard, author of <i>I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning</i>More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pan Macmillan
Target group
Interest Age: From 18 years
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 125 mm
Width: 192 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
242 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-0350-1662-4 (9781035016624)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Mariel Franklin
Bonding
a darkly addictive novel about love in the digital age, for fans of Cleopatra and Frankenstein
E-Book
06/2024
Picador
€14.49
Available for download
Person
Mariel Franklin lives and works in London. She has a MA in English from Edinburgh University and later went on to study Fine Art at Goldsmiths. After graduating, she spent several years working in data administrating in the tech industry. Bonding is her first novel.