In 2010s Silicon Valley, among the renowned names of Jobs, Wozniak, and Zuckerberg, a woman has stepped onto the scene. Dot Van Jensen is CEO of One Story, a news outlet whose algorithm caters to the user’s personal preferences. When a devastating scandal and betrayal in the company leads to Dot becoming a fugitive, she hides in the remote corners of Indonesia. In this novel of an investigation by a documentary crew, One Story is an amalgamation of interviews, emails, and text messages exploring the genesis of One Story and its downfall.
Pip Finkemeyer captures with electric zeal the ambition, chaos and idealism of the tech industry. Exploring the perspectives of Dot, her co-founders (her son Jon and her partner Rae), and the thousands of employees whose lives were upended, we see how far the ripples of a scandal within a major corporation affect those from the very top to those presiding on the other side of the world.
Finkemeyer balances the promise and the perils of this industry, celebrating Dot’s rise as a young, queer woman in a male-dominated field, to her immediate villainisation and the ensuing witch-hunt. In an ever-technologically advancing world, we are constantly questioning and fearing the misuse of technology and how it shapes our perception of reality. From fake news, AI manipulation, and invasion of privacy, One Story explores the intersection between technology and politics, touching on democratic systems and narrative control, begging us to question how much say we really have. As the story unravels, with different perspectives offering different insights, the lines between hero and villain, truth or falsehood, are blurred for the price of progress and profit. History is told by many people, but whose version do we choose to believe?
One Story is an inventive novel about ambition, power, media, and the construction of truth.
