GOOD MATERIAL BY DOLLY ALDERTON

Low stakes review, written by Sadie Bard-Webb.

Genre: Contemporary romance, humorous fiction

Dolly Alderton holds a fond place in the heart of this reviewer. 

During the lockdown of 2020, I like many others, decided it was time to upskill every area of my life. This included reading to my little heart’s content. The book I picked up to begin this journey was ‘Everything I know about Love’ by Dolly Aldterton. As a lost and out of practice reader, this blend of memoir and cultural commentary could not have been a more timely collection of anecdotes. It felt like the right book at the right time. 

Alderton’s retellings of the absurd situations she has found herself in throughout her life felt like a fresh loaf of sourdough, hot from the oven (upskilling involved some baking also.) I read ‘Everything I know about Love’ at a record pace. Laughing and crying at every quintessential human experience I was gifted through Alderton’s writing. That is what I love about Dolly Alderton, her ability to write these silly, embarrassing and devastating moments and make them feel more human than your own. Chance is a fine thing, but at a time where I needed to read humanity, this book was there. 

Which brings us to the present day, sitting in my sub zero apartment, coffee cooling rapidly, small and inefficient heater doing its darndest, reading Alderton’s newest novel ‘Good Material’. It’s hard not to compare the two states of being in which I read each book. The significant and historical implications of them both. For example, I’m not currently locked in my house for 24 hours a day. Also, the world doesn’t feel like it’s collapsing on itself as much. Yet, instantly, I am catapulted back to that time as I read about our thirty five year old protagonist Andy and his dalliances with life after a significant break up. He’s insufferable for sure, but so am I. There lies what makes me adore Alderton’s writing more than most. Her stories feel like my stories, her prose feels like mine - if I was funny. These discerning moments are placed in my hands and I hold them delicately, because in spite of himself Andy is going through a succession of moments we will all probably feel at one time. The sheer dread knowing you will have to eventually see your ex in public at some point. Tracking your thinning hair with a bespoke photo album. Trying desperately to find a single normal person to live with while flat hunting in London (been there.) Starting again.

There has been some criticism about Andy. Many a review will read as follows. ‘Love Dolly, but the first 200 pages were an absolute nightmare, Andy was awful - could he not just get over it - I mean buying a house boat, please.’ To which I say, it’s called good writing. Imagine expecting to like every character of a book? God forbid these people pick up anything by Ottessa Moshfegh. I find this critique on character interesting. One that speaks to a state of individualism that we covet and nourish in recent years. There are references to the female lens that people draw on, as the book is almost entirely from the perspective of Andy, who is a man. I wonder if it’s worth posing the question - Why do you think Dolly Aldteron, a true gem of a woman, whose previous work was a reflection on love, friendship and life, whose readership is likely majority women, wrote a book from the perspective of a man? 

Food for thought. 

Good Material as an exercise in empathy. What a gip. You are not going to agree with everyone in your life. You are not going to understand why they make the decisions they do. Book characters are not written solely for you to adore them, but if you can look at them with compassion you’re doing okay.

Alderton’s writing reminds me of Kazuo Ishiguro - stay with me - in the way that there is something so essentially human about the stories they tell. Sure, a lot of Ishiguro’s writing is set in dystopian villages, with AI companions. Alderton sticks mainly to modern English living. But there is a quality. An indescribable sense of tenderness, perhaps it’s the spaces in between the letters, there is love there.

Written by Sadie Bard-Webb.