‘This bold and highly impressive debut novel has its thumb right over the sore spots of modern life’ – Guardian

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.

Electrifying, urgent, 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.

‘Audacious, hot, deeply uncomfortable and genuinely thrilling’ – Saba Sams, author of Send Nudes

‘I absolutely loved it.’ – Zadie Smith, author of The Fraud

‘Audacious, hot, deeply uncomfortable and genuinely thrilling’ – Saba Sams, author of Send Nudes

Adrift in her early thirties, Mary sets out to change her life, one ill-advised decision at a time.

First, she books a spontaneous flight to Ibiza where she meets Tom, a brilliant young chemist working on an experimental drug called Eudaxa that claims to cure the anxieties of modern life. As their connection deepens, Mary thinks she might finally be falling in love.

Then Mary lands a job at Openr, an innovative dating app with no limits. Its founder, Mary’s ex girlfriend Lara, will do everything it takes to make it a global phenomenon.

When Mary introduces Lara and Tom, love and pharma collide with devastating consequences. As whispers about Eudaxa’s side effects begin to grow, Mary is forced to ask whether love is even possible in a society that is falling apart.

Electrifying, urgent, and darkly funny, Mariel Franklin’s Bonding is a uniquely modern story of sex and freedom in the messy tangle of our digital age.

‘Part love story, part love-mare, Bonding asks big, bold questions about the future of human relations and relationships’ – Sarah May, author of Becky