Ghosts, the fictional debut from Dolly Alderton is a truly fantastic book that tells the story of a woman in her early 30s trying to navigate everything life throws at her.
Ghosts, Dolly Alderton
Themes: Fiction, Contemporary
Reading Format: Hardback
5 STARS
I’ve never related to a character as much as I related to Nina. A single woman in her early 30s, she has an established career, her own home and a complicated family life. Nina is surrounded by friends all at different life stages to her, with her three closest friends being made up of her ex-boyfriend, her childhood best friend who is now married and a mum and her uni bestie who is her fellow single compadre.
This book is listed as a romance and chick-lit on Goodreads, but I think it’s a book of self-love and self-discovery. Nina goes through a lot in these pages, whether it’s being left heartbroken from a romantic entanglement, or from seeing her lovely dad go through the stages of dementia. Nina is certainly a fighter and has an inspiring attitude to handling life. There was a real theme of nostalgia in this book too, for memories long since passed, for the stages of life when things were just easier. It was a mix of this and Nina’s situation that I found so incredibly relatable.
The interactions between Nina and her friends with partners and children really hit me. The conversations she has with them are conversations I’ve had countless times and will no doubt have countless times more. This raw observation of single life was so perfectly reflective of the experience. I really loved how strong Nina was throughout this book, even when she was struggling, she held true to who she was and was always her own greatest cheerleader.
Finishing this book left me feeling very emotional. The epilogue had me in tears and reflecting on my own journey. Dolly Alderton’s has a real talent to weave this story with beautiful prose, I didn’t want this book to end. For so many reasons this was fantastic, but mainly because it made me feel seen and less alone. Brilliant read.
[affiliate] Buy a copy from Waterstones here
