Who are you when no one is looking? This question came to mind when reading Allie Rowbottom's incisive debut novel, Aesthetica.

The story follows Anna, a former Instagram celebrity, on her path of reflection and redemption as she seeks to undergo a high-risk elective surgery called Aesthetica™, which is said to “reverse all her past plastic surgery procedures, returning her, she hopes, to a truer self.”

As readers bounce between Anna's past and present, Allie paints a nuanced portrait of a woman stepping into herself while considering her relationship with fame, family, and the trappings of a landscape predicated on image and youth. In this interview, Allie shared more about why Aesthetica is a continued conversation from her memoir JELL-O Girls, her thoughts on privacy and pace, and embracing womanhood. This episode also opens with a story by Dakota Bossard.

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Episode Transcript: https://slowstoriespodcast.com/allie-rowbottom 

Learn more about Allie's work: https://allierowbottom.com/ 

Follow Allie: https://www.instagram.com/allierowbottom/ 

Purchase Aesthetica: https://bookshop.org/p/books/aesthetica-allie-rowbottom/18180848?ean=9781641294003

Follow Dakota: https://tiktok.com/@dakotabossard