‘a clever, funny and propulsive satire that couldn’t be better timed.’ –The Guardian
TRAILBLAZER. VISIONARY. ICON. CRIMINAL?
In the sun-drenched chaos of 2010s Silicon Valley, a tech company's meteoric rise culminates in a devastating fall. Dot Van Jensen, the trailblazing CEO-turned-fugitive, narrates her story from a hidden corner of Indonesia. A scandal has painted her as the villain, a puppet-master who fractured democracy and paved the way for a darker future. But is the truth as cut and dry as the headlines seem to imply?
While Dot weaves a tale of One Story's genesis, her co-founders—her son, Jon, whose formative years saw him sheltered from technology on a secluded ranch, and Rae, the enigmatic partner who saw in Dot a path to power—grapple with their own legacies.
As a documentary crew digs for the truth, a chorus of over a thousand voices, the company's employees, fill the pages with their own narratives. They always believed the work they were doing was putting them on the right side of history, and they’re not going to let it be told any other way. If anyone is going to take the fall, it’s going to be Dot, and if she won’t fall, there are plenty who will push her.
One Story is a captivating look at ambition, betrayal, and the power of narrative in a world hungry for answers. It's a story where the lines between hero and villain are blurred, and the true cost of progress becomes a question mark shimmering in the California sun.
PRAISE FOR ONE STORY:
‘The novel resists pure cynicism. Beneath its biting humour and relentless irony is a sustained enquiry into what it means to live ethically in a culture that monetises empathy.’ —The Conversation
'This novel is so exceptional that we've created a new category for it in the ‘Best of 2025 List' —Country Style
‘If real-world lawmakers lag behind the tech companies and chief executives who find ever more creative ways to manipulate us online, at least we can have our revenge in fiction.’ —The Saturday Paper
‘a captivating exploration of ambition, power and progress.’ —Fashion Journal
‘smart, funny and genuinely unique’ —Anna Kate Blair, author of The Modern
'I loved this book so much.' —Jane Flett, author of Freakslaw
'So funny, so weird, so joyfully cynical and blisteringly smart.' — Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta, authors of Feast While You Can
