The Marriage Act(116)
The Marriage Act is, of course, a work of fiction. But a surprising number of parts have been inspired, some loosely and some more closely, by facts, studies and statistics. For example, a study by a London business school suggests that soon, in-home listening devices will be able to interpret a couple’s arguments and come up with solutions to relationship problems. Elsewhere, an American-based church is dispatching real-life Relationship First Responders to step in and help couples whose marriages are at risk. Meanwhile, Deepfake online content is growing at a breathtaking rate and experts warn that they will be indistinguishable from real images before long. In my research, I also found websites already offering interactive AI avatars and recreations of your loved ones who you can talk to after they’ve died. Here in the UK, studies are being carried out to see if virtual reality headsets for convicted criminals tagged on house arrest could be used to retrain or educate them. And when it comes to self-driving vehicles, it’s no longer, ‘if it happens’ but ‘how soon?’
There are many people I’d like to thank in helping to get this book from mine and other John’s heads and into your hands (or your ears if you’re listening to the audiobook). In no particular order, thanks to other John for the idea, for designing the original graphics in the first few drafts of the book, overseeing the AI stuff my brain is too small to comprehend and being my first reader. Next, I want to thank our little boy Elliot for putting up with all the hours Daddy Chops spent in the office living in his imagination while he wanted to watch YouTube videos of tractors being unboxed on my computer. Huge gratitude goes to my editor Gillian Green for her unwavering support. This is our fourth book together and, once again, I’ve so enjoyed working with you. Thanks to my mum Pamela for her encouragement and to my early readers for offering me their opinions on what worked and what didn’t. Also my gratitude goes to the Pan Macmillan team plus Jon Cassir at CAA.
Online book clubs have always been a huge support to me, including Tracy Fenton and all at Facebook’s THE Book Club, along with Emma Louise Bunting and Wendy Clarke at The Fiction Café Book Club and everyone at Lost In A Good Book.
Immersing myself in the world of failing relationships involved a lot of research and reading self-help books. Particularly inspiring to me were The Seven Principles For Making Marriage Work by John M Gottman; Your Other Half by Sophie Personne and 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman. They, however, offer much more positivity than the characters in my story received!
I’m no futurologist so I like to read up about the technology we’ll all be eventually reliant upon. I’d wholeheartedly recommend the annual The Wired World magazine, which is a fantastic resource for predicting what will be the norm very soon and decades from now. And please check out Richard Godwin’s article in The Observer entitled ‘Houses of Tomorrow’ to see where we will be living. In a speech my character Anthony hears at a FFA meeting, the reference to AI admitting it is unable to appreciate art or a sense of humour is based upon a study by writer and programmer Gwern Branwen. For more of his essays and studies, check out www.gwern.net.
Finally, thank you to all my readers. This is my tenth book and whether this is your first or you’ve been with me all the way on my journey so far, you have my gratitude.