In a not-so-distant dystopian future fueled for the wealthy by wellness technology, the lives of three women collide through an unraveling of events revealing thrilling plot twists and uncovered secrets, a story almost chilling for its depiction of our own trajectory.
Out now, "You're Safe Here" explores a 2060 world where wellness not only segregates the rich from the poor, but fundamentally determines one's livelihood. Via the lens of technology, debut author Leslie Stephens questions the true cost of convenience and what we're willing to sacrifice at the hands of an augmented reality run by the greedy.
Strikingly aware, Stephens' novel captures a reality terrifyingly close to home, leaving a trail of thought-provoking prose throughout, like the tail end of one sentence in the book, "...-the line between oasis and asylum could feel uncomfortably fine."
Curator of the popular weekly lifestyle newsletter, Morning Person, a previous food writer and lifestyle brand editor, Stephens set out in her first novel to answer her own questions about where we're headed as a society, an economy, and ultimately, as humanity.
While deep in the 2016 wellness and social media spaces, an idea drifted into Stephens' mind during shavasana at the end of a yoga class.
"I had this sort of image of being alone in a floating pod," she shared. As the idea sprouted into a story, Stephens said, "I was interested in thinking about, how can we take this kind of insane culture that exists now, if it keeps going in this direction, where is it going to end up?"
Loaded with social commentary, the narrative follows three female leads as they navigate the increasing power humans give over to money and technology as a means of thriving in the wellness bubble created by WellCorp in the face of climate disaster.
Written over three years with endless research, including David Wallace-Wells' influential book, "The Uninhabitable Earth," Stephens predicts an eerie sci-fi fate hovering for humankind just this side of believable — and not so far away.
Stephens expertly weaves together themes of motherhood, love and romance, manipulation and self-optimization while asking crucial questions about the future like, "What do these coastal cities look like? What does it look like with rising oceans and heat waves and with this increasing wealth disparity? And what's going to happen as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and what's going to matter?"
On developing this story, Stephens revealed, "Everything starts with questions...and all of these questions just unlock these other ideas that sometimes develop into full-fledged characters."
Most resonating with her first character, Maggie, having similar questions about life and partnership, Stephens admits: "But I think that there are some less savory parts of myself that I wasn't looking at that belong to Noa and Emmett," her other two female leads.
Loosely based on the real-life Elizabeth Holmes who launched Theranos, a faulty high-tech blood-testing machine, Stephens created Emmett, a woman — and the founder of WellCorp — who will do anything to reach her own vision for success.
"I was just fascinated by this woman who was put on such a pedestal by the media and then absolutely torn down, and rightly so." Stephens said, adding, "I sort of wanted to get inside her head and understand what happened."
Largely known for her nonfiction work, Stephens emphasized the contrast she's experienced in putting "You're Safe Here" into the world, divulging, "I have this Substack newsletter where I write very vulnerably about all these different things going on in my life, and I feel like my novel's the most intimate thing I've ever written, because I feel like every character is really a part of me."
Stephens will meet readers and share an excerpt from "You're Safe Here" at her Roundabout Books author event on July 11. Purchase event tickets and books in the bookstore or online. Find the author at lesliestephens.com and subscribe at morningpersonnewsletter.com.
