My second novel, A Virtual Love, explores issues of identity in the age of social media. Do our online profiles represent who we really are, or who we want people to think we are? What happens when the constructed identities start to take over?
Jeff Brennan is stuck between fantasies of what he wanted his life to be like and a more dull, compromised reality. When the beautiful and idealistic Marie mistakes him for a famous blogger, he sees the chance to take a shortcut to the life he’s always wanted. He goes along with the lie, and goes to increasingly desperate lengths to maintain it.
What people are saying
Award-winning British writer Alex Wheatle MBE called A Virtual Love “A compelling tale, told from several perspectives, about the identity that people project in the social media world and the real life identity that we cannot escape from. A fascinating, modern story that had me gripped.”
Book bloggers have been talking about the book since it came out. David Hebblethwaite wrote on We Love This Book, “Andrew Blackman’s second novel is a fine study of identity and deception at the point where the online and offline worlds intersect.” Joanna on JoV’s Book Pyramid said, “A book worth re-reading and I thought should be promoted more widely. I very rarely do a sales pitch on my blog but I am going to encourage you to read it.” Vishy wrote, “Andrew Blackman’s trademark prose is spare and beautiful and it rises to sublime heights in the chapters which the grandfather narrates.” And here’s this from Litlove in Tales from the Reading Room: “As a portrait of modern love it is quite unsettling, pointing to ever-growing questions about what remains most real and significant in our transient, illusory world.”
Click here to see what other people are saying about A Virtual Love
If you’d like to listen to a short sample from the book, here’s a clip of me reading a 10-minute extract from the first chapter:
How to read a copy of A Virtual Love
A Virtual Love is stocked in branches of WH Smith across the UK, where it’s currently in the fiction charts. You can also buy it from major branches of Waterstones, and independent bookshops in the UK will either have it in stock or be able to order it for you in a day or so. Many libraries also stock the book, so check your local catalogue or ask them to order it for you.
If you live outside the UK, you can order A Virtual Love from your local Amazon or other online bookseller. The Book Depository offers free worldwide shipping.
An ebook version is also available in a variety of formats, including ePub (suitable for Kobo, Sony readers, Nook, etc) and Kindle.