Saturday Night Live has long enjoyed popularity as a comedy vehicle. Sittenfeld has taken that show as inspiration to conjure a similar show, The Night Owls, and the narrative centres on one of its writers, Sally Milz. She writes in close quarters with Danny Horst – not handsome, and with gross personal habits. He becomes the basis of a comedy sketch when it’s discovered that he’s dating a gorgeous actress.

‘The Danny Horst Rule’ states that it’s not uncommon for attractive women to date not-so-handsome men, but it doesn’t happen in reverse. Handsome male celebrities don’t date average-looking women … like Sally. Enter the next guest host, musician and handsome male, Noah Brewster. Sally shares her feelings with her two writer/actor friends, Viv and Henrietta.

It’s clear from their first meetings that Noah finds Sally’s scriptwriting clever and funny. She helps him hone a sketch he’s written himself and she thinks there’s some sort of chemistry between them. She doesn’t trust it though. Her romantic life consists of a failed marriage and hook-ups on Tinder. Sally and Noah do become closer as the show airs, but at the afterparty Sally’s tendency for sarcasm sees Noah shut the budding romance down.

The narrative is a great insight into writing for television, with run sheets and writers’ meetings detailing how a show is put together. The second part of the narrative is the 21st century version of an epistolary novel, with email exchanges between Noah and Sally, tentatively rekindling their relationship. Can they get back together? Can Sally hold her caustic tongue?

Romantic Comedy is a marvellous gender subversion of ‘boy meets girl’. Here, the girl gets to decide. Will she or won’t she?

Reviewed by Bob Moore