Ghosts (2020)

by Dolly Alderton

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Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:*INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER �?� From the author of Everything I Know About Love* comes a** smart, sexy, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy about ex-boyfriends, imperfect parents, friends with kids, and a man who disappears the moment he says "I love you." /> �??An absolute knock-out. Wickedly funny and, at turns, both cynical and sincere�?� feels like your very favorite friend.�?� �??Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Malibu Rising ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, VOGUE, PEOPLE Nina Dean is not especially bothered that she's single. She owns her own apartment, she's about to publish her second book, she has a great relationship with her ex-boyfriend, and enough friends to keep her social calendar full and her hangovers plentiful. And when she downloads a dating app, she does the seemingly impossible: She meets a great guy on her first date. Max is handsome and built like a lumberjack; he has floppy blond hair and a stable job. But more surprising than anything else, Nina and Max have chemistry. Their conversations are witty and ironic, they both hate sports, they dance together like fools, they happily dig deep into the nuances of crappy music, and they create an entire universe of private jokes and chemical bliss. But when Max ghosts her, Nina is forced to deal with everything she's been trying so hard to ignore: her father's dementia is getting worse, and so is her mother's denial of it; her editor hates her new book idea; and her best friend from childhood is icing her out. Funny, tender, and eminently, movingly relatable, Ghosts is a whip-smart tale of relationships a… (more)

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This really has nothing to do with Ghosts, but rather being Ghosted by a boyfriend (

)

Berly | Mar 28, 2024 |

At first, I thought I was listening to a Bridget Jones-esque romantic comedy about a woman in her early 30s looking for love. And that would have been fine, because I like those kinds of books just fine. But this turned into a much more thoughtful, bittersweet story of a woman looking to hold on to connections - with her father who is suffering from dementia, with her old friends whose lives are changing with marriage and parenthood, and with the man she met through a dating app who seemed perfect until he wasn't.

The parts of the book about Nina and her father are beautifully done and made me tear up at times, though I don't have any personal experience with losing a loved one to the cruelty of dementia. And I loved Nina's relationships with her friends, including her ex-boyfriend. The chapter where she attends his fiancee's hen do is very funny. There are a lot of funny moments and some great, humorous dialogue, but the novel is concerned with weightier issues, and Alderton handles them well. It was a truly satisfying read.

4.5 stars

NB: I think this would have been closer to a 4-star book, but the audio narration was so good, it raised it a level. (

)

katiekrug | Feb 14, 2024 |

I really enjoyed this book about dating, ghosting, relationships of all kind, etc. I thought at first that this would be another “romance” type millennial book but I was very impressed with the insights the author included about life. Nina is one of the last of her friends to be married and have children. She’s not desperate but has decided to try dating apps. Things go awry and she soldiers on. The book reflects on dating relationships, friend relationships as well as parent daughter relationships. Very well done on all accounts. (

)

kayanelson | Feb 4, 2024 |

Really enjoyed this read by Dolly Alderton. Nice insight without being too flippant or too depressing. Looking forward to exploring more of her books. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this. (

)

decaturmamaof2 | Nov 22, 2023 |

I highlighted so many sections of this. Poignant and I loved the way it looked at how friendships evolve and change but ultimately come back together. (

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whakaora | Mar 5, 2023 |

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Awards

Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction (Shortlist – 2021)

The British Book Industry Awards (Shortlist – Début – 2021)

Comedy Women In Print (Shortlist – Published Novel – 2021)

Distinctions

NPR: Books We Love (2021)

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Canonical title

Ghosts

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

Archway, London, England, UK

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Epigraph

“It is our imagination that is responsible for love, not the other person.”

MARCEL PROUST

“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind”

A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Dedication

For Mum and Dad,
for never disappearing

First words

On the day I was born, 3rd August 1986, “The Edge of Heaven” by Wham! was number one.

Quotations

Resetting the factory settings of a friendship is such a difficult thing to do.

It’s so hard to trace which memories are yours and which ones you’ve borrowed from photo albums and family folklore and appropriated as your own.

So much of the love you feel for a person is dependent on the vast archive of shared memories you can access just by seeing their face or hearing their voice.

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Nicholls, David

Carty-Williams, Candice

Stibbe, Nina

Haig, Matt

Reid, Taylor Jenkins

Original language

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▾Book descriptions

Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER �?� From the author of Everything I Know About Love comes a smart, sexy, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy about ex-boyfriends, imperfect parents, friends with kids, and a man who disappears the moment he says "I love you."

�??An absolute knock-out. Wickedly funny and, at turns, both cynical and sincere�?� feels like your very favorite friend.�?� �??Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Malibu Rising
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, VOGUE, PEOPLE
Nina Dean is not especially bothered that she's single. She owns her own apartment, she's about to publish her second book, she has a great relationship with her ex-boyfriend, and enough friends to keep her social calendar full and her hangovers plentiful. And when she downloads a dating app, she does the seemingly impossible: She meets a great guy on her first date. Max is handsome and built like a lumberjack; he has floppy blond hair and a stable job. But more surprising than anything else, Nina and Max have chemistry. Their conversations are witty and ironic, they both hate sports, they dance together like fools, they happily dig deep into the nuances of crappy music, and they create an entire universe of private jokes and chemical bliss.
But when Max ghosts her, Nina is forced to deal with everything she's been trying so hard to ignore: her father's dementia is getting worse, and so is her mother's denial of it; her editor hates her new book idea; and her best friend from childhood is icing her out. Funny, tender, and eminently, movingly relatable, Ghosts is a whip-smart tale of relationships a

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