Nina Dean has arrived at her early thirties as a successful food writer with loving friends and family, plus a new home and neighbourhood. When she meets Max, a beguiling romantic hero who tells her on date one that he's going to marry her, it feels like all is going to plan.
A new relationship couldn't have come at a better time - her thirties have not been the liberating, uncomplicated experience she was sold. Everywhere she turns, she is reminded of time passing and opportunities dwindling. Friendships are fading, ex-boyfriends are moving on and, worse, everyone's moving to the suburbs. There's no solace to be found in her family, with a mum who's caught in a baffling mid-life makeover and a beloved dad who is vanishing in slow-motion into dementia.
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On the day I was born, 3rd August 1986, 'The Edge of Heaven by Wham! was number one. 1
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(@PenguinUKBooks, 15 October 2020, 336 pages, ebook, copy from the publisher via # NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed)
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I read and loved the author's non-fiction book, Everything I Know About Love so I really wanted to read this book, especially when I read so many good things about it. I got it as an ARC and am sorry I took so long to get around to reading it. I'm a gay woman and Ghosts focuses on heterosexual relationships, but I could still enjoy it and relate to Nina and Max. I've fallen hard for someone as fast they fall for each other. Insta-love is a thing and it doesn't need to be cheesy. Ghosts isn't just about Max and Nina though, it's about getting older, friendship, ex's, family and getting old. I loved the way Nina's father's dementia is dealt with, it's very accurate and he reminded me a lot of my Nan who had it and died in a nursing home. This is a terrific book. I laughed and cried a lot.
