"Table for One" by Emma Gannon

An audio book.

London-based Willow and Dom, together over 10 years, have a successful start-up company, Scatterbox. She and his parents want her to get pregnant. One of her friends, Pen, is a mid-wife and another, Alice, has miscarried. Karla, Willow's 50 year old aunt with her owncompany, brought her up when her mother left, and adopted her. Willow writes the Website copy, and misses doing journalism. Dom neglects to mention her at a prize-giving ceremony, and she's not upset. [Both of these actions seem unlikely to me]. She's offered a job in New York by Elaine, and a one-off assignment that attracts her - she researches by looking up a beautiful, young influencer, Naz, who advocates living single. Willow interviews her.

Chapters about the main timeline alternate with chapters that deal with the past - festivals, a New York holiday with Karla, etc. Her first interview for Elaine had been at a Zoo where she'd been told about butterflies' lifecycles - how the caterpillar pupates, has a meltdown, how the more the butterfly has to struggle from the pupa, the stronger it will be - it will die if a human helps it out.

Dom suddenly tells her that he's moving to New York for business and personal reasons - he wants to go alone. He wants to buy her out. [She doesn't complain or suffer though they've been together a decade]. She goes to Eastbourne to live with Karla, who discovers a breast lump. Willow starts using Tumbler, unsuccessfully. Friends tell her that Dom treated her badly. Naz invites her to a women-only event. She enjoys relaxing among clever, entertaining people. She spends a day with Naz, shopping and swimming. Naz might not be as confident as she looks - there's a sick-bucket in her room etc. She hints to Willow about her self-doubts. Elaine wants Willow to write an exposé. Willow's tempted, though she can also see the positive effects that Naz has on woman. Naz has a mental breakdown when it's revealed on single media that she has a girlfriend. Willow doesn't publish the article.

Alice is pregnant. Pen has an open relationship. Lola calls off her marriage, staying in the relationship. Naz stays with Willow and Karla for a night or 2. Karla dies - she was always happy alone. She had endless capacity for love.

A year later, Willow is at an airport bound for 6 months holiday, starting in Vietnam. She discovers that Dom has sold his company for £25 million. She happens to meet Naz with an older woman. Willow and Naz thank each other. Naz reminds Willow of her mother. Willow has learnt how to love herself. She starts writing her new piece called "Table for one".

No. The set pieces are all too long. I don't believe Willow's reaction to the break-up. It's unclear to me why the Willow+Dom phase is included - the rest of the book is independent of it, and is too schematic, the characters providing a menu of options for the depressingly passive Willow to learn/choose from.

Other reviews

• Goodreads
• lookonthewriteside (I wanted a bit more self-reflection from Willow and a bit more page-time for a few of the secondary characters—Carla, Pen, I’m looking at you. The second half of the novel was over a bit too quickly and I felt there was room to dig a little deeper.)
• republicofwords (The beats are all very familiar, the situations as you’d expect, as if there’s a great self-actualisation novel generator that takes all the tropes of the sub-genre—a little bit romcom, a little bit self-help—shakes them up and throws them back out in a neat list. It’s all very hopeful and inspiring but, like the best fast food, it was great going in, utterly forgotten straight afterwards.)