Andrew Blackman - A Virtual Love

A Virtual Love opens with a situationist-inspired dedication: ‘to all those who demand the impossible’, which is appropriate for a novel dealing with protest and the way that online interactions can transform identities into commodities. Although the book is, on the surface, a quick, straightforward read, it has layers of depth for readers who want to delve a little deeper.

The novel is narrated from multiple perspectives, with identity a key theme throughout. The plot hinges on a mistaken identity; an idealistic American charity-worker, Marie, meets Jeff Brennan, a slacker from Milton Keynes, in a hospital waiting room after a climate protest. Here, she mistakes him for a powerful yet reclusive blogger of the same name. Persuaded by friends, he does nothing to disabuse her of the notion, and she is drawn into his life, moving into his flat and forming a relationship. Meanwhile, he obsessively reads the other Jeff Brennan’s blog, assimilating his ideas until he is trapped in the lie he has created. His friends become involved, and things turn sinister, with threats of blackmail, fraud and identity theft which eventually threaten his relationship and his job.

In the background, Jeff’s grandfather, a former journalist, acts as the novel’s conscience, providing advice and introducing Jeff to a different pace of life, measured out by the ticking of an antique clock. He is a nuanced character, adding a level of morality apparently absent in the younger characters, yet not short of tricks when he decides to investigate his grandson's behaviour. Eventually, this character, from an apparently analogue generation, is able to combine his own skills with a basic understanding of digital technology to create a post-modern, multiple-viewpoint text as a cautionary tale for his grandson.

Other characters are equally ambiguous – Marcus, a dedicated eco-campaigner, gradually abandons social morality for ‘the cause’, whilst Marie can be seen either as a victim of deceit or of her shallowness and desire to believe. Jon meanwhile, selflessly comes to his friend’s aid in a moment of crisis, but at great cost to the ‘real’ Jim Brennan.

Blackman hits on the performative nature of online interaction and profile building, the task of constructing an idealised version of the self to be displayed to the world, and also questions our willingness to believe. Marie, for example, is aware of the disparity between the passionate, informed blogger and her mildly apathetic partner, but overlooks this, choosing to focus on the intangible over the mundane reality of her life with Jeff. Brennan, meanwhile, realises that he can increase his social (and eventually financial) capital exponentially through his identification with the Jeff Brennan brand.

The betrayal of the 'original' Jeff Brennan has a real-world equivalent in the stories of Chinese prisoners forced to play World of Warcraft for hours on end, building powerful profiles which could later be monetised by the government. The etheral and fluid nature of online identities means that they can become saleable, and even stealable, commodities, traded by those who lack the patience, charisma or acumen to create a profile from scratch. Multiple personalities can inhabit an avatar, and the one using it now may not be the one which created it.

Late in the novel, Jeff’s grandfather muses that ‘there were different rules on the internet. Perhaps if nothing is real then property and theft are outdated terms’. What each of the characters reveals though, is that while our methods of expression have changed, and the scope of our interactions has broadened, our motivations have not altered at all. Each character is still propelled forward by the need for approval, for the love of hunting, for companionship or for greed.

The world of online interaction, with its ambiguities and malleable identities, is clearly a fertile source of inspiration for writers, but the field is crowded and authors must work hard to avoid turning this material into cliché. Blackman manages to make his story stand out with his clear understanding of the strange mores of online interaction, and his ability to link his observations to deeper themes.

A Virtual Love is released on April 1. You can read a sample of the book here. Andrew's website contains a regularly updated blog on writing, reading, political protest and more.