Thirty-one years old and newly transplanted from Thunder Bay, Ontario to Vancouver, BC, Amber Kivinen and Kevin Watkins are in a fourteen-year committed relationship--together forever. Until... Without Kevin's knowledge, Amber applies to enter a contest to travel to Mars. Amber is selected for the contest, and Kevin stays home to grieve her loss.
Girlfriend on Mars is about space, reality TV, climate change anxiety, infidelity, grow ops, travel...
Hamish Hamilton
an imprint of Penguin Canada
a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited
2023
356 pages
longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller
Science Fiction, Romance, Literary Fiction
Amber and Kevin are polar opposites. Amber is an aggressive go-getter who lives life to the fullest. Kevin is a deep-thinking, deep-feeling observer of life. Raised by an ailing single mother, Kevin was taught from a young age to fear life and cling to one person. At first, this person was his mom and then Amber. Who will he cling to now that she's gone?
Girlfriend on Mars is told in altering chapters of first and second person. The first-person chapters are narrated by Kevin. In the second-person chapters, we observe Amber--much as Kevin would. At one point, Kevin tells us, "I realize that Amber is a planet, and I'm a moon to her orbit." I understand this to mean that he doesn't think that he's as important as Amber and I disagree. Girlfriend on Mars is a balanced examination of both sides of a relationship.
The short chapters help to make this book enjoyable--especially for those of us with reading challenges.
If you enjoy reading Girlfriend on Mars (which (I hope) I'm sure you will), you may also enjoy reading An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim.
