Andy is 35 years old and always thought his life would look a lot different than it is. He is a comedian who appears mid-pack on the bill. He sells cheese at markets to supplement his income and hosts industry award nights. But mostly, he is a devastated, destroyed and heartbroken shell of a man because, Jen, the love of his life and mother of his future children has broken up with him out of the blue. He is making it his mission through a curation of lists to try and understand why.

I loved that Good Material was written from the male break-up perspective. It is encouraging to know that men suffer in similar ways to women. Andy’s friendship circle tries to help but all have families, so poor Andy gets squeezed in around bath-time and dinner with the in-laws. He finds himself homeless and his search for a new place to stay just sums up his life.

The writing style is quick witted, interesting and keeps the story flowing and the characters are all well drawn and add so much humour or empathy to the story.

This book is heartfelt, funny and a great summer read. Dolly Alderton has written a novel filled with tender moments, heartbreak, and lots of humour. It’s contemporary but also timeless. The ending is very satisfying and a perfect conclusion.

Grab your beach towel and be prepared to lose yourself in Andy’s self-indulgent yet deeply touching world.

Reviewed by Nicola Skinstad

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hello! I’m Dolly Alderton – an author, journalist and podcast host. I used to write these About sections in the third person, to imply that a mystery narrator was observing all these things about me from afar, but I’ve decided to abandon that form in this iteration of my website oeuvre.

My memoir Everything I Know About Love, won a National Book Award, was nominated for Waterstones Book Of The Year and a British Book Award and has been translated into 25 languages.

I have also been a freelance journalist for the best part of a decade, writing features, interviews and columns for a range of magazines and papers such as The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, GQ, The New Statesman, Red, Marie Claire, I wrote a weekly dating column for The Sunday Times Style.

Alongside Pandora Sykes, I am the co-host and co-creator of The High Low, a current affairs and pop culture discussion show and Britain’s leading women’s podcast. I also write for TV.

Before I became a full-time freelance writer in 2015, I worked full-time in TV. My first job in 2011 was as the Story Producer for series 2-5 of The BAFTA-winning Made in Chelsea, made by Monkey Kingdom. I then worked in structured reality, comedy and entertainment development at Monkey Kingdom and drama development at Objective Productions.

Other completely useless information for those who didn’t get bored by paragraph two and have scrolled right to the end (thanks): I’m half Canadian, weirdly tall and my most controversially held opinion is that no sandwich is as reliable as an egg mayo. If you’d like to get in touch with a work query or to make your case for another sandwich, please do contact one of my representatives below.

Visit Dolly Alderton’s website