I finished it a couple of weeks and wasn’t particularly impressed. It was quite hard work and overly descriptive, I wanted a paragraph to just get to the point. I’d read more of dolly’s work but it was just a bit mehIve just finished Ghosts. It was ok, mildly entertaining. It did seem like the fiction version of Everything I know about Love though from the high standards expected / disdain for friends that have got married / had children / live in the suburbs to the parody of hen parties and weddings. But, I did finish it, so
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Her husband looks quite tall in photos and as a fellow tall person I look at that setup and think “yep, no way my knees are fitting under that desk”. The poor sod.
All these poor blokes living in these insta perfect frou frou frilly girly homes. Where do they keep their things bet they’re all shoved under the bed anything that is not aesthetically pleasing.Pandora’s husband: I’m buying an ergonomic office chair
Pandora: But it won’t be vintage!
Pandora’s husband:
He probably works at a firm which would pay for a decent desk/chair but I suppose it wouldn’t fit with the aesthetic
I’ve half read Ghosts I want to love it it and was looking forward to it but have to force myself to read it it’s just not that brilliant.
I actually like Dolly a lot, but I thought Ghosts was quite poor. I think Dolly's strength as a writer is her witty social observation, and sections of Ghosts were very funny and relatable (e.g. commentary on online dating, hens, new mothers etc.) but the whole thing didn't hang together for me - almost like she'd tried to make a novel by stitching together witty one liners.
I found Dolly's own influences/interests were painfully obvious in the book. I don't think I am just falling into the trap of assuming as a female writer her work must be autobiographical. From listening to The High Low for so many years, you do have a fairly good sense of Dolly's interests and her main character seemed so much in common with her (at least on the surface) - living in north London, friends with same kind of people, same career, same hobbies interests. etc. I found the number of times it was mentioned that the main character was short a little bizarre - almost like Dolly saying LOOK IT'S NOT ME BECAUSE I'M REALLY TALL.
Also, parts of the plot were very cliched and predictable, but at the same time unrealistic. For example, I thought the behaviour of the best friend who had had children was incredibly extreme - she seemed to have lost all interest in the main character and treated her like her life had zero meaning because she was single and childless. Which is a pity because the way people's lives can diverge in their 30s is interesting, but for me the plot would have been much more effective and realistic had it been subtler. The same for the plotline with the dad. It was like she'd picked the film reel highlights we all think of when we think about dementia (which are designed to pull at the heartstrings), but not the more difficult and less known aspects of dementia.
I found Dolly's own influences/interests were painfully obvious in the book. I don't think I am just falling into the trap of assuming as a female writer her work must be autobiographical. From listening to The High Low for so many years, you do have a fairly good sense of Dolly's interests and her main character seemed so much in common with her (at least on the surface) - living in north London, friends with same kind of people, same career, same hobbies interests. etc. I found the number of times it was mentioned that the main character was short a little bizarre - almost like Dolly saying LOOK IT'S NOT ME BECAUSE I'M REALLY TALL.
Also, parts of the plot were very cliched and predictable, but at the same time unrealistic. For example, I thought the behaviour of the best friend who had had children was incredibly extreme - she seemed to have lost all interest in the main character and treated her like her life had zero meaning because she was single and childless. Which is a pity because the way people's lives can diverge in their 30s is interesting, but for me the plot would have been much more effective and realistic had it been subtler. The same for the plotline with the dad. It was like she'd picked the film reel highlights we all think of when we think about dementia (which are designed to pull at the heartstrings), but not the more difficult and less known aspects of dementia.
Well at least they can afford the phyiso Pandora's husband will need after working at a bedside table and then that set up all pandemic.
Vanity fair, the magazine or novel?
Mag. The last edition had such a nice interview with Tony from the Sopranos real life son. It was just one of those phone in interview one page things but I now want to see everything he’s in. Cannot remember name of either actor which goes some way to justifying why I’m reading the magazine and not the novel.
That desk is so so funny. Can just imagine him hunched over it, knees touching the underside, trying to get his mouse to work on the wicker basket surface (but making sure he’s not being too noisy).
Pandora’s sitting room also looks uncomfortable. It looks like it was designed purely as a backdrop for her magazine shoots. Besides posing by the fireplace, what can you actually do in that room. Two toddlers could destroy the Pierre Frey covered chair in seconds, hurt themselves on the corners of the coffee table and I bet the cat is probably desperate to sink it’s claws into that mustard chenille 
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Dolly has mentioned that Pandora and her husband are both short/small people!
Those leopard print curtains are just 
and I love leopard print! I just find Pandora’s clothes and interiors taste to be verging on foul most of the time. She thinks she’s such an edgy fashionista too. Admittedly, so does Vogue etc. But I’d much rather Dolly’s 60s style than Pandora’s mishmash of colours and styles that she seems to wear only because she is skinny so anything looks sort of okay.
and I love leopard print! I just find Pandora’s clothes and interiors taste to be verging on foul most of the time. She thinks she’s such an edgy fashionista too. Admittedly, so does Vogue etc. But I’d much rather Dolly’s 60s style than Pandora’s mishmash of colours and styles that she seems to wear only because she is skinny so anything looks sort of okay.Just finished Ghosts. Had to listen to it at 2X speed. It was very boring. I like Dolly’s insights about Hen parties and dating apps but I also felt bad for people just going about being normal because she seems almost scornful of many young women.
The plot did not hang together very well though, there wasn’t much drive for anything, more like a series of scenes.
I wouldn’t bother with it if you’re considering it but have a big pile of books to get through, there are so many better books out there in that genre.
The plot did not hang together very well though, there wasn’t much drive for anything, more like a series of scenes.
I wouldn’t bother with it if you’re considering it but have a big pile of books to get through, there are so many better books out there in that genre.
I wonder if it's doing so well/in so many "best book" features because of who she is rather than the content, and if an unknown author would have written it how would it have done. Especially as a lot of people raving about it on socials/reviewing it are her friends. I haven't actually read it though, but everyone I know who has read it hasn't liked it. Of course taste is subjective so I'm sure there are many people who did genuinely like it.
I was thinking the same like has Stanley Tucci actually read Ghosts & loved it?? I can’t imagine he would be able to get through it as I’m really forcing myself. I can’t help reading the main character as Dolly as I think as one writer here said we know so much about Dolly through her columns and The High Low we know what she likes and dislikes & she’s written herself but oh yes SHORT. She seems very bitter about her friends being happy. Even in Everything I know about love she was upset Farley got engaged. So far in the book Nina is just thinking everyone is v. basic who settle down & she comes across as so unlikeable.
I just finished listening to Ghosts and it was entertaining enough whilst I was working but 100% agree that the story threads aren't very cohesive and there was no real conclusion to the book. It just seems to be a sequel to EIKAL but in fiction. Also her best friend with the kids sounded to much like Pandora 
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.I think Stanley Tucci is married to Felicity Blunt at Curtis Brown and Dolly has agent connections to CB so perhaps he came across it that way.
He was on her Love Stories podcast too so maybe she sent him a proof. I think he has a book out too soon, or might already be out, so maybe he is hoping she will return the favour and promote it to her audience haha.
It's like the inverse of the Virginia Woolf thing. A Flimsy Wicker Corner of His Own.
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