Review - The Dinner List

The Dinner List

by Rebecca Serle

288 pages

Release date 9/11/2018

4 out of 5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Flatiron Books for my E-ARC!

According to the publisher, “We’ve been waiting for an hour. That’s what Audrey says. She states it with a little bit of an edge, her words just bordering on cursive. That’s the thing I think first. Not: Audrey Hepburn is at my birthday dinner, but Audrey Hepburn is annoyed.

At one point or another, we’ve all been asked to name five people, living or dead, with whom we’d like to have dinner. Why do we choose the people we do? And what if that dinner was to actually happen? These are the questions Rebecca Serle contends within her utterly captivating novel, The Dinner List, a story imbued with the same delightful magical realism as One Day, and the life-changing romance of Me Before You.

When Sabrina arrives at her thirtieth birthday dinner she finds at the table not just her best friend, but also three significant people from her past, and well, Audrey Hepburn. As the appetizers are served, wine poured, and dinner table conversation begins, it becomes clear that there’s a reason these six people have been gathered together.

Delicious but never indulgent, sweet with just the right amount of bitter, The Dinner List is a romance for our times. Bon appetit.”

Like the publisher says, the premise of this book is all based on the old party game of choosing who, living or dead, fictional or real, you would want to have dinner with, giving us a fascinating plot outline right from the beginning.  I was intrigued by the plot description as soon as I first came across this book. I love that Serle structured her novel around this question, because who among us hasn’t made our own list, even if only in our head?

Through this clever plot device, we learn more about the main character, Sabrina.  While Sabrina chooses Audrey Hepburn as the obligatory famous person for her list, her dinner also includes her best friend, a favorite professor, her biological father, and the man she loved and lost.  

Through discussions at the table and flashbacks to Sabrina’s real life, we learn more about the role that each invitee played in her life.  Sabrina explores how her changing relationship with her best friend and her lack of relationship with her father shaped both her past and present.  We watch as Sabrina explores how deeply she is hurt from the great love of her life not having a happy ending, and we see how she struggles with how to move forward.  Audrey Hepburn is present throughout the story, both appearing as a glamorous movie star whom few people would not jump at the chance to meet, but also with her films woven throughout the backdrop of Sabrina’s experiences.

I have to commend the author on the skill she uses, both in dialogue and character development.  There is not much action in this book; the author does not spend much time describing settings; I’d guess that 90% of this book is made up of character dialogue.  It is incredibly difficult to write a book based mainly around talking and have it not end up reading like a script.  I can’t help but think how talented Serle is to not only carry a successful plot in this manner, but also to engross the reader and keep their attention through so much back and forth.

If I have to give this book criticism, it would be that, for me, I didn’t feel there was enough of an explanation given for how Sabrina came to find herself at this magical dinner.  The reader is left to wonder whether is was a dream, or if Sabrina somehow stumbled into a time warp restaurant.  I suppose the ‘why’ doesn’t matter much in the end; this book is so enjoyable, you are willing to suspend your disbelief even without much justification.

Overall, I really thought this book was excellent!  I actually shed a tear at the end; the only other time I have cried at a book is during Dobby’s death in Harry Potter, so this is the highest of all praise coming from me.  I definitely recommend this book!  Do you have your own ‘dinner list?’ If so, tell me in the comments!