The Mars House: A Novel

In the aftermath of an environmental catastrophe, January, a former principal dancer with London's Royal Ballet, has become a refugee in Tharsis, a terraformed colony on Mars. As an Earthstronger—someone whose body has not adapted to Mars's lower gravity—January faces severe restrictions on employment, housing, and transportation. A xenophobic politician named Aubrey Gale is campaigning to force all Earthstrongers to undergo naturalization, a process that causes disability and sometimes death. When a press interview between January and Gale goes badly wrong, both their lives are disrupted. Gale proposes a solution: a five-year marriage staged for public relations that would secure January's future without naturalization while restoring Gale's political standing. January accepts, but soon discovers that Gale is fundamentally different from their public persona—kind, compassionate, and difficult to resent. As their relationship deepens, the political situation deteriorates, and January learns that Gale has a dangerous enemy willing to destroy all of Tharsis for revenge. January may be the only person who can prevent catastrophe. Named a Best Book of 2024 by The Washington Post, Amazon, Book Riot, LitHub, Paste Magazine, and HuffPost.