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.