Tamsin is an engineer who likes to remain firmly behind the scenes. However, when her best friend gets caught up in a twisted, life-threatening reality show, she must follow Charlotte across the ocean to a place where there is no escaping the spotlight, the infamous People’s Republic of Love.

Set in a newly created country, ruled by whoever has the most online followers, The People’s Republic of Love considers where the proliferation of influencers in our society might take us. Visibility has the power to sell goods, drive movements and win elections. Being seen matters, but what happens when the self created for public display becomes more vital than the life underneath? Will unshared experiences become ghostly, as though they never happened?

This is a novel about intimacy in an age of performance, about friendship as rescue, and about asking: who are you when nobody is watching?

Heather will be here at bookhaus to discuss her book in conversation with Ali Bacon. Tickets cost £7 and include £2 off the book, a glass of wine or a soft drink. Presented by bookhaus.

The People’s Republic of Love balances beautifully in that strange space between the online world and the real world, caught between desire and emptiness, offering glamorous highs and horrifying lows. A smart, scary and ingenious read – Aliya Whiteley

Heather Child is the author of Everything About You and The Undoing of Arlo Knott, both published by Orbit. She is a member of Just Write Bristol, a co-founder of Malago Press, and has mentored on the Literature Works writer development programme. Her website is www.heather-child.co.uk
SRL Publishing is the world’s first climate-positive independent publisher.