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Penguin books that reshaped love and relationships, with insight from Paloma Faith.

Features

The Penguin books that redefined love and relationships

Books to change your perspective on love (3)

Reading lists

Books that will change your perspective on love

Good Material by Dolly Alderton in paperback

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Extracts

An Exclusive Extract from Good Material by Dolly Alderton

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Interviews

‘I’ve always wanted to write something from the male perspective’: Dolly Alderton on heartbreak, finding inspiration, and her new novel Good Material

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Sneak Peek: Good Material by Dolly Alderton

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Books to read if you’re going through a break-up

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The book to read based on your favourite Taylor Swift song

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Dolly Alderton on fiction, friendships and life in your 30s

The best memoirs of all time including Michelle Obama's Becoming, Paul Kalanithi's When Breath Becomes Air, Chanel Miller's Know My Name and Patricia Lockwood's Priestdaddy.

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The best memoirs of all time, as chosen by our readers

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Best books to help you deal with imposter syndrome

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Dolly Alderton: Six inspiring lessons I learnt from Love Stories

Dolly Alderton: The literary gifts that made an impact on me

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Dolly Alderton: My weirdest ever Valentine’s Day

Ghosts

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, FROM THE AUTHOR OF EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT LOVE 
 
'Utter BRILLIANCE . . . I absolutely LOVED it!' MARIAN KEYES 
 
'An absolute knock-out… Dolly’s voice feels like your very favourite friend’ TAYLOR-JENKINS-REID 
 
'Witty, touching without ever being sentimental ... Hugely enjoyable' DAVID NICHOLLS 
__________________________________________________ 
 
He said ‘I love you’. And then he disappeared. 
 
Things that are going right for Nina Dean: 
<ul><li>She’s found her dream job.</li><li>She finally has her own home.</li><li>She’s met Max, a beguiling romantic hero who has swept her off her feet.</li></ul>Things that are going wrong for Nina Dean: 
<ul><li>She has the neighbour from hell.</li><li>Her friendships are fracturing, and so is her parents’ marriage.</li><li>She hasn’t seen or heard from Max for weeks.</li></ul>Just as everything ought to be falling into place, it’s all falling apart instead. Nina’s beloved dad’s memory is slipping away from him, and her mum is caught in a baffling mid-life glow-up. Her friends are becoming strangers and her exes are moving on. Everywhere she turns, she’s reminded of time passing. 
 
The last thing she needs is another ghost. 
____________________________________________________ 
 
SHORTLISTED FOR THE COMEDY WOMEN IN PRINT PRIZE 
 
'A book so relatable you'll give yourself neck ache nodding in recognition' GRAZIA 
 
'Bittersweet, funny, and occasionally gut-wrenching’ STYLIST 
 
Sunday Times bestselling author, January 2024

Dolly Alderton is an award-winning author, screenwriter and journalist based in London. She is a columnist for the Sunday Times Style magazine and has also written for GQ, Red, Marie Claire and Grazia. She is the former co-host and co-creator of the podcast The High Low. Her first book, Everything I Know About Love, became a top-five Sunday Times bestseller in its first week of publication, won a National Book Award (UK) for Autobiography of the Year and was made into a BBC One TV series. Ghosts, her first novel, was an instant Sunday Times bestseller. Dear Dolly, a collection of her agony aunt columns from the Sunday Times Style magazine, was published in 2022 and was also a Sunday Times bestseller.

He said ‘I love you’. And then he disappeared. 
 
Things that are going right for Nina Dean:<ol><li>She’s found her dream job.</li><li>She finally has her own home.</li><li>She’s met Max, a beguiling romantic hero who has swept her off her feet.</li></ol> Things that are going wrong for Nina Dean: 
<ol><li>She has the neighbour from hell.</li><li>Her friendships are fracturing, and so is her parents’ marriage.</li><li>She hasn’t seen or heard from Max for weeks.</li></ol>Just as everything ought to be falling into place, it’s all falling apart instead. Nina’s beloved dad’s memory is slipping away from him, and her mum is caught in a baffling mid-life glow-up. Her friends are becoming strangers and her exes are moving on. Everywhere she turns, she’s reminded of time passing. 
 
The last thing she needs is another ghost.

Good Material

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC FICTION 2024* 
 
Every relationship has one beginning. This one has two endings. 
 
--- 
 
‘Funny – of course it’s funny – but also smart, insightful and sincere about heartbreak' David Nicholls, author of One Day 
 
'A novel to be devoured, adored, underlined ... if only more books made you laugh as much as this' The i 
 
--- 
 
Andy loves Jen. Jen loved Andy. 
And he can't work out why she stopped. 
 
Now he is. . . 
1. Without a home 
2. Waiting for his stand-up career to take off 
3. Wondering why everyone else around him seems to have grown up while he wasn't looking 
 
Set adrift on the sea of heartbreak at a time when everything he thought he knew about women, and flat-sharing, and his friendships has transformed beyond recognition, Andy clings to the idea of solving the puzzle of their broken relationship. Because if he can find the answer to that, then maybe Jen can find her way back to him. 
 
Andy still has a lot to learn, not least his ex-girlfriend's side of the story. 
 
From the bestselling author of Ghosts and Everything I Know About Love: a sharply funny, beautifully observed and exquisitely relatable story of heartbreak and friendship, and how to survive both. 
 
--- 
 
‘Made me laugh while punching me in the gut. Loved this book’ AISLING BEA 
 
'This is the greatest. You'll cry and laugh. I read it though the night. And I never, ever avoid sleep' CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN 
 
‘I award it 13/10 on my QWJ scale (stands for Queasy With Jealousy that I didn't write it)’ MARIAN KEYES 
 
'The author of Everything I Know About Love nails the zeitgeist with a witty, relatable and acutely insightful page-turner about the trials and tribulations of the lovelorn' Daily Express 
 
Good Material, Instant Sunday Times bestseller, November 2023

If Dolly&rsquo;s memoir Everything I Know About Love summed up being twentysomething then this, her second novel, is a tender and funny love letter to our tumultuous 30s

Brilliantly observed &hellip; Beautifully written, pacy and excellent on rejection, friendship and letting go. Fabulous

Laugh-out-loud dialogue on every page ... No-one has a firmer grasp on the themes she explores. Good material, indeed

Funny, sad and true; a book she has clearly poured her soul into ... Cements her status as a fiction heavyweight

inews, The best new books to read in November 2023

This is the greatest. You&rsquo;ll cry and laugh. I read it through the night. And I never, ever avoid sleep

Leaves you heartsore but happier. Irresistible

Made me laugh while punching me in the gut. Loved this book

Sharply written and acutely observed ... A beautifully nuanced portrayal of modern love that will have you racing to the last page

Have you ever wondered what a lost love was thinking? In this ingeniously constructed and endlessly amusing novel, Dolly Alderton flips the script on everything we think we know about romantic loss, to bring us an unforgettable character on a deeply relatable downward spiral. Wise and relatable and pee-your-pants funny. I cried by page 5. Dolly Alderton is, quite simply, the bard of modern day love

WONDERFUL ... Shot through with Dolly's characteristic emotional intelligence ... Very funny ... Such a pleasure to read. I devoured it ... I award it 13/10 on my QWJ scale (stands for Queasy With Jealousy that I didn't write it)

I adored it! I ... Dolly is THE comic writer of our generation. This feels like her most ambitious book yet, and it delivers on every single page. She uses humour so brilliantly to underpin the quiet roar of romantic despair - this book is raw, smart and human. This makes me believe Dolly knows everything there is to know about love.

Dolly Alderton just gets better and better. Good Material is both heartbreaking and hilarious with an ending that has you holding your breath. With the wit of Nick Hornby and the emotional scalpel of Nora Ephron, Alderton is one of our greats and this is sure to be an absolute classic

A relatable, laugh-out-loud story of a thirtysomething failed comedian struggling with a break-up

Good Material combines Alderton&rsquo;s wit and eye for detail with a beautiful depth of emotion

Genuinely laugh-out-loud funny &ndash; with characters straight out of a Richard Curtis film &ndash; whipsmart dialogue and relatable millennial themes (Alderton&rsquo;s forte) mean there&rsquo;s never a dull moment ... Thought-provoking and wise

The Independent, Best New Books to Read This Autumn

The author of Everything I Know About Love nails the zeitgeist with a witty, relatable and acutely insightful page-turner about the trails and tribulations of the lovelorn

Dolly Alderton is the Adele of writing

Witty, warm and well-observed

A funny, tender novel about human relationships. By turns, laugh-out-loud, eye-roll relatable, and 'stop you in your tracks' heart-wrench. A thoroughly modern romantic masterpiece.

Highly relatable for millennials navigating dating in London, and hugely insightful for those generations wanting to understand them. Packed with sharp observations and wisdom. A triumph

Alderton entertains with observational quips about thirtysomething life ... There's a Hornby-esque charm to her well-meaning characters and their relatable dramas

The bestselling author brings her warmth, emotional intelligence and wry observation to bear on her second novel ... Refreshing

Alderton is perceptive about how men deal (badly) with emotional pain

Relatable, funny and refreshing

[A] book to be devoured, adored, underlined, and passed on (but only to the friends you know will give it back) ... [Alderton] proves herself once again as having both a deep understanding of the intricacies of relationships and the ability to articulate it better than the majority of us ever could ...Good Material showcases Alderton&rsquo;s knack for rich characterisation and zippy dialogue like never before ... Genuinely funny &ndash; if only more books made you laugh as much as this

All of Alderton's considerable gifts as a writer are on display here: her wit, her ability to capture exchanges that feel real, and her skilful characterisation ... Alderton's work truly shines when she writes about friendship

With distinct notes of Helen Fielding, Richard Curtis and Nick Hornby ... Warm and generous ... A writer very much in control of her material

Alderton is excellent at fusing poignant tenderness with wry observations about modern life, and that talent is on full display here. Good Material is a highly enjoyable exploration of the messy, non-binary nature of many break-ups, and how two people can simply make a terrible couple ... If you're on the hunt for a readable romcom to inhale in a few sittings, this is very good material

Funny, tender and astute on heartbreak

This is Dolly Alderton's best book yet ... Alderton is a great social chronicler: her observations here about thirty-something friendship and the differences (or not) between millennials and Gen Z feel particularly true. But most crucially, this is a tender, bittersweet portrait of the addictive fug of longterm monogamy &ndash; and the crushing pain when it ends

The i – All I want for Christmas: Which books should you buy for your loved ones this year?

A brilliantly observed portrait of a break-up, which examines how miserable it is to become obsessed with the unknown reasons a relationship has ended. Andy can&rsquo;t understand why Jen no longer wants to be with him. The more he thinks about it the madder he feels but he can&rsquo;t stop. Addictive

Daily Mail – Christmas Books: Best way to survive Christmas? Read a really good book!

I&rsquo;ve already bought several copies of Dolly Alderton&rsquo;s Good Material for the men and women in my life, and I will continue the rampage through the festive season. It&rsquo;s the perfect blend of easy to read, funny and extremely astute

Failing stand-up comedian Andy is devastated when his girlfriend Jen breaks up with him out of the blue. Alderton explores the trials and tribulations of finding yourself unexpectedly single in your mid-30s in a novel as witty as it is perceptive

Daily Express – Stocking fillers: What were the must read novels of 2023?

The most book-based fun I had this year ... It&rsquo;s the most I&rsquo;ve laughed while reading about heartbreak since Nick Hornby&rsquo;s High Fidelity. A complete delight

The Sunday Times – My favourite read of the year, Charlotte Ivers

Funny &ndash; of course it&rsquo;s funny &ndash; but also smart, insightful and sincere about heartbreak

Like Nora Ephron, with a British twist &hellip; Delivers the most delightful aspects of classic romantic comedy&mdash;snappy dialogue, realistic relationship dynamics, humorous meet-cutes and misunderstandings&mdash;and leaves behind the clichéd gender roles and traditional marriage plot

Some writers suffer from second-novel syndrome, but not Dolly Alderton ... Genuinely laugh-out-loud funny – with characters straight out of a Richard Curtis film ... Thought-provoking and wise.

A moving break-up story that everyone who has ever been dumped will relate to

No one writes about relationships quite like [Dolly Alderton]…This novel is filled with shrewd observations about friendship, ageing and lost love, but also happens to be laugh-out-loud funny

The i Paper – Best new paperbacks for summer

Andy loves Jen. Jen loved Andy. 
And he can't work out why she stopped. 
 
Now he is. . . 
1. Without a home 
2. Waiting for his stand-up career to take off 
3. Wondering why everyone else around him seems to have grown up while he wasn't looking 
 
Set adrift on the sea of heartbreak at a time when everything he thought he knew about women, and flat-sharing, and his friendships has transformed beyond recognition, Andy clings to the idea of solving the puzzle of their broken relationship. Because if he can find the answer to that, then maybe Jen can find her way back to him. 
 
Andy still has a lot to learn, not least his ex-girlfriend's side of the story.

On Love, Life and Friendship, the instant Sunday Times bestseller

Dear Dolly

'Dolly Alderton at her wise, warm and witty best' Red 
 
Since early 2020, Dolly Alderton has been sharing her wisdom, warmth and wit with the countless people who have written in to her Dear Dolly agony aunt column in The Sunday Times Style. Their questions range from the painfully - and sometimes hilariously - relatable to the occasionally bizarre. They include breakups and body issues, families, friendships, dating, divorce, the pleasures and pitfalls of social media, sex, loneliness, longing, love and everything in between. 
 
Without judgement, and with deep empathy informed by her own, much-chronicled adventures in love, friendship and dating, Dolly leads us by the hand through the various labyrinths of life, proving that a problem shared is truly a problem halved. 
 
'Alderton is so gifted at making people care' Marian Keyes 
 
A Sunday Times bestseller, November 2022

A compendium of good advice from her Sunday Times columns, Dear Dolly is Dolly Alderton at her wise, warm and witty best. All of human life is contained in these pages: from dating apps to eating disorders, too much sex, not enough sex and the ebb and flow of friendships, relationships and situationships. I felt like a better, kinder person for having read these letters and Dolly's thoughtful replies

With a thoughtful essay about what answering others' questions has taught her, this collection of Alderton's agony aunt advice offers bundles of empathy (and zero judgement) about life's problems, from totally relatable dilemmas to the entertainingly voyeuristic

Her refreshing take makes for compulsive reading. The result is an oddly soothing book, as the problems of others leave you not with a sense of schadenfreude but with the comforting realisation that something you have felt, or are feeling, has been felt by countless others - and it will always be that way

Alderton has struck a chord with a generation ... Invaluable ... A must for die-hard Dolly fans

Capturing the hearts and minds of young romantics and dreamers, she offers sage and sisterly advice to those in need

Since early 2020, Dolly Alderton has been sharing her wisdom, warmth and wit with the countless people who have written in to her Dear Dolly agony aunt column in The Sunday Times Style. Their questions range from the painfully - and sometimes hilariously - relatable to the occasionally bizarre. They include breakups and body issues, families, friendships, dating, divorce, the pleasures and pitfalls of social media, sex, loneliness, longing, love and everything in between. 
 
Without judgement, and with deep empathy informed by her own, much-chronicled adventures in love, friendship and dating, Dolly leads us by the hand through the various labyrinths of life, proving that a problem shared is truly a problem halved.

Dolly Alderton

“Nearly everything I know about love, I've learnt from my long-term friendships with women.” 
 
I know that love can be loud and jubilant. It can be dancing in the swampy mud and the pouring rain at a festival and shouting “YOU ARE AMAZING” over the band. It’s laughing until you wheeze. It’s walking along the street together on a Saturday night and feeling an entire city is yours. 
 
I also know that love is a pretty quiet thing. It’s lying on the sofa together drinking coffee, talking about where you’re going to go that morning to drink more coffee. It’s folding down pages of books you think they’d find interesting. 
 
I know that love happens under the splendour of fireworks and sunsets, but also happens when you’re lying on blow-up airbeds in a childhood bedroom, sitting in A&E or in the queue for a passport. 
 
Everything I Know About Love is a celebration of our female friendships, of our messy years, and of growing up together. Glittering with wit, heart, and humour, it’s a book to share with every woman you’ve ever been lucky enough to call a friend.

Dolly Alderton

Books by Dolly Alderton

Articles featuring Dolly Alderton