The One

A razor-sharp and seductively hypnotic debut novel about the very fantasy of falling in love. Emily didn´t join the cast of The One for fame or for a relationship. She simply didn´t have anything better to do. Newly fired from her dead-end job, it doesn´t take much convincing when she´s recruited as a last-minute contestant for the popular reality dating show. Emily has been performing her entire life-for her family and friends, former boyfriends, and coworkers. How different could it be playing herself in front of cameras? But the moment Emily arrives, it becomes clear she´s been tapped to win it all. Emily´s producer Miranda sees her as the golden ticket: generically pretty, affable, and easily molded-all the qualities of a future Wife. Emily herself is less certain. It´s easy enough to fall in love under romantic lighting and perfectly crafted dates, but it´s harder to remember what´s real and what´s designed. And as Emily´s fascination with another contestant grows, both Emily and Miranda are forced to decide what it is they really want-and what they are willing to do to get it. A brilliant send-up of our cultural mythology around romance, The One examines the reality of love and desire set against a world of ultimate artifice and manipulation.