A provocative, hyper-modern debut about three characters falling in and out of love as society falls apart.

Set in the turbulent world of London’s tech industry, Bonding unfolds against a backdrop of slowing growth and increasing ruthlessness as its characters face the reality of Silicon Valley’s dream machine.

Mary’s life is at a standstill. She’s been fired from her job and her romantic prospects are less than none. Exhausted by an endless cycle of casual relationships and unstable work, she books an impulsive trip to Ibiza and, in a whirlwind of aspirational tourism, meets the alluring and charismatic Tom. They sleep together, and Mary discovers that Tom works for a start-up that’s on the verge of launching a new antidepressant: a drug called Eudaxa that claims to be able to cure the anxieties of modern life.

Back in London and hustling for work, Mary runs into her volatile and ambitious ex-lover, Lara, who offers her a way out of her downward spiral: a job at Openr, an app that is trying to disrupt the dating world. Meanwhile, Eudaxa has entered the marketplace and, as whispers around the drug’s effects begin to grow, Lara – desperate to make a success of Openr, and envious of Tom and Mary’s burgeoning relationship – lets the controversy go viral.

A novel for the generation that came of age at the end of love, Bonding casts an unflinching gaze on the dark side of modern dating, asking how far we are willing to compromise our individualism in pursuit of a more equal society – and what the consequences of that might be.