fade away

You’re always alone online in David Owen’s All The Lonely People

as Kat – the lead character in David Owen’s new novel All The Lonely People – discovers, the internet can completely encapsulate someone’s identity. Hounded off social media by a trolling campaign, her physical body inexplicably disappears along with her virtual presence.

“It’s about the perception of the importance of her online self to who Kat really is,” Owen tells Red Alert. “The internet provides her with various spaces where she feels safe to be herself. So when that online self is wiped away, she feels like there is nothing left of her at all, or certainly nothing worthwhile, and that induces the fade.”

Ironically when Kat begins to vanish, it is her nemesis Wesley who tries to bring her back. “I definitely wanted Wesley to be far more than a two-dimensional bully,” insists Owen. “But my attempt to explain his behaviour is not an attempt to excuse it. Regardless of why, he still does these terrible things, both online and offline. Wesley is certainly not all bad, but it was important that he is never let off the hook and that he is forced to take responsibility for his actions.” SJ

All The Lonely People is published by Atom on 10 January.