Alderton’s description of the men one meets on a dating app is hilariously accurate, no matter which side of the pond you’re on ... The interplay of ghosting and theft is also present in the book’s most powerful layer, which deals with an aging parent, slowly losing his mind, becoming a ghost ... Alderton brings her British wit and fresh writing to online dating and all its ups and downs. Marrieds vs. singles. The unfairness of online dating for women stressed about the tick of the biological clock. Add to it the difficulties of becoming a caregiver, and what you have is a book that is a reality check for many and a solace to those who feel like they’re constantly swiping right without meeting Mr. or Ms. Right.
Alderton’s skill at dissecting love and relationships translates seamlessly into fiction ... Alderton skewers the tribalism of online courtship brilliantly through Nina’s eyes ... The title of the book might be a reference to the cruel dating habit of ‘ghosting’ – when a person you’re seeing disappears very suddenly with no explanation – but really this is less a book about courtship than one about the tricky transitional phase of early thirties life, when friendship groups splinter and shift and life choices are put under the microscope. Alderton tackles it beautifully.
... occasionally, slightly laboured jokes undermine the overall comic force. Nevertheless, these comic turns often made me chuckle: the depiction of a hen do dominated by a passive-aggressive maid of honour is brilliant ... Max’s singular brand of cruelty and the novel’s other darker themes show Alderton’s writing at its strongest. The unnerving introduction of Nina’s threatening neighbour Angelo is a particular highlight. The depiction of her mother’s reaction to her new role as a carer – a brittle but steadfast denial that there is a problem – also makes for effectively unsettling reading that tests the boundaries of what used to be called chick-lit. It would be good to see this element of her writing – the difficult, the ambivalent – find an even fuller voice in Alderton’s subsequent novels.
... a full, multifaceted picture of Nina's life beyond her current relationship status ... Aside from accurately portraying the fallout of a partner ghosting you, Ghosts examines the idiosyncrasies of adult friendships — particularly those that have grown from childhood — and explores the hopelessness of watching someone you love struggle with dementia ... At first glance, Ghosts is another romantic comedy about dating in the digital age, but as you get further immersed into Nina's story, it reveals many beautiful and messy layers.
There are sharply skewered set pieces, but also tender observations ... Unlike much commercial fiction, Ghosts admirably eschews overneat plotting or too-pat conclusions. This open-endedness may, however, dent its narrative drive. Or perhaps this is due to the resilience of Nina as a character, who falters, but never seems at any real risk of flailing — she is always the coolest observer in the room ... A wiser, if hardly wizened, fictional companion to Alderton’s millennial memoir, this is a promising, deftly written, often entertaining and poignant debut novel.
Dolly Alderton is funny, and she has the same kind of engaging conversational writing style that has made Carrie Bradshaw and Bridget Jones characters who will live in infamy. Nina’s sly musings about her friends’ changing lives clearly and hilariously send up the hypocrisy of newly married couples ... Nina is a fresh, smart and funny protagonist who finds some truly graceful (and not-so-graceful) ways to grow up for real. As the world continues to unravel on the outside, a book like Ghosts is gold. It is not just a beach read, though. Put on your big person pants, and ride the waves of humor and relatability into a wonderful story about a young woman whose entire life is transforming. Like all of us, Nina must learn to sail these ever-changing seas—with a mixture of fun, anxiety and jubilation. Ghosts is magic. Read it now.
Nina is a wryly entertaining narrator ... There’s much fun to be had, too, with the vivid cast of characters ... Certain tensions get resolved too neatly and it’s true that Ghosts has a slight fairytale quality to it – Nina gets to go to meetings in cool publishing houses and walk regularly on Hampstead Heath. But when it comes to human bonds and interactions it’s achingly relatable. A darkly funny-melancholic novel about the rich variety of relationships in our lives – and the importance of showing up for them.
There’s something simultaneously cringey and also addictive about Dolly Alderton’s prose. Ghosts is definitely feminism lite, a palimpsest for young women in London who are into yoga and small plates. But that is not to detract from the fact that it is eminently readable, and frequently charming ... initially seems to be about love, an easy subject to belittle. But it is about far more than that, something which becomes evident early in the novel ... Alderton writes very well about women supporting other women. She is honest about the oppositions that society sets up in female friendship: how they may never be resolved, but can be overlooked in favour of a deeper connection. It speaks very well to the urge within us all to compare ourselves to others, and also demonstrates perfectly that, while there may not be such thing as a perfect ending, nothing is ever set in stone.
Oh it is a lonely life in the literary trenches, a life surely to become even lonelier as I must report that Dolly Alderton’s debut novel brought me nothing but pain and disappointment ... Alderton’s humorous skewering of dating apps surely makes Ghosts the most culturally relevant novel of 2014, a finger-on-the-pulse account of modern dating from someone who just discovered the 'I’m in my mum’s car' vine. I must give her some credit, however. The novel’s barbs and biting observations are as succinct as the tweets they were all recycled from ... Alas, a part of me wishes that Alderton didn’t read into her position as the 'Nora Ephron of the millennial generation' quite so literally as to essentially present a rehashed version of You’ve Got Mail with all the same ideas and foibles but without any of the charm, wit or timelessness ... Her fictional prose is dense, thick like mayonnaise, and often forms itself into Pynchonian blocks of solid text. Injections of humour also tend to fall flat ... I know how ridiculous this sounds, but there are just so many words in this novel. During a time where spare, concise and unadorned prose seems to rule the roost, Alderton must be hailed as a brash iconoclast ... I truly wish I could be kinder to Ghosts, but the whole reading experience made me quite depressed.
... a refreshing and clever meditation on a single British woman’s late coming-of-age ... It would be a mistake to pigeonhole Ghosts as just a novel about dating, since Alderton thoughtfully explores the ever-present uncertainty haunting adulthood, including aging parents, changing friendships, and contemplating children and myriad 'paths that lie ahead.' Full of quirky characters, sardonic commentary, and millennial ruminations, Ghosts is for fans of the show Fleabag, Sally Rooney’s Normal People (2020), and Lily King’s Writers & Lovers (2021).
... sprightly, sometimes touching ... Alderton doesn’t exactly cover new ground as she moves through the obligatory scenes: an awkward weekend with Joe’s fiancée and her friends, an uncomfortable wedding, difficult conversations with Nina’s parents, and frustrating get-togethers with old friends. Still, this should hit the spot for readers of women’s fiction who appreciate the familiar.
The dread the reader feels for Nina upon reading this is borne out in spades by the pessimistic plot of this nonetheless amusing novel ... At the end of the day, the author's strengths are more those of an essayist than a novelist. Nina is a bit of an odd character—a food writer who doesn't seem to care much about food or writing—and the plot is fairly predictable except for a ferocious sex scene that seems to have fallen into this book from some other novel. These failings are outweighed by Alderton's funny formulations and essayistic insights ... Yes! Yes! Yes! (This is the sound of Alderton's millennial demographic, reading her book.)
