Dinner party derailed by the story of a toxic relationship - abysmal execution of a intriguing concept.
The Dinner List has all the ingredients for a life-affirming, uplifting and poignant story as Sabrina, finds her long-standing thirtieth birthday dinner with college best-friend, Jessica, gatecrashed by the five people, living or dead, that she chose to have dinner with when faced with the question as a junior. Despite not being a reader of magical realism I was prepared to suspend disbelief for a potentially profound exploration of complicated relationships but instead this is the less fascinating story of the toxic romance between Sabrina and Tobias. As Rebecca Serle charts its ebb and flow in a stop/start narrative that alternates from the awkward interactions at the dinner table to the critical moments of Sabrina and Tobias’ destructive romance as love gets lost amidst the day to day realities of modern life there is little continuity. Forget life lessons and defining moments as Serle explains little beyond two young people who ultimately wanted different things from life and their incompatibility to exist in the wider world..
The variety of guests from across Sabrina’s lifetime to date should have made for a fascinating exploration of why human life deals us the hand that is does and an attempt to address all the moments that have defined a lifetime. From the best-friend that Sabrina met as a nineteen-year-old freshman who has since married and become a mother, Jessica, to her once alcoholic estranged father, Robert, who abandoned her and her mother at the age of four, to the intriguing inclusion of a philosophy professor, Conrad, from college and that of famed screen actress, Audrey Hepburn. However everything revolved around the two highly fortuitous random meetings between Sabrina and Tobias, their different outlooks and goals and their incompatibility to exist in a world that necessitates work, money, responsibility, understanding and patience.
The narrative is made up of short chapters alternating between events at the dinner (told in the present-tense) and those over the course of Sabrina’s life and romance with Tobias, from initial sighting at age nineteen until its tragic end a decade later narrated in the past-tense. Other characters make appearances in Sabrina’s hindsight look back but they are few and far between and make limited contribution to her story. The chapters of two to three pages length make for a stop/start and disjointed narrative that prevents any opportunity for a head of steam to build up and precludes any meaningful exploration. Zero chemistry between characters, stilted dialogue at the table and Serle continuous need for Conrad and Audrey to interrupt and diffuse tension every time the current conversation gets anywhere near to probing (by calling for another course or more wine) is infuriating.
Character development is non-existent and the opportunity for addressing unresolved tensions, reconciling herself with past and moving on is a non-starter with immature Sabrina scoring points and airing grievances with her father, Robert, ex-boyfriend, Tobias, and even party organiser,
Jessica, whose friendship has drifted apart and more or less dissolved. Self-absorbed Sabrina and her contemporaries, Jessica and Tobias, are largely unsympathetic characters whose bickering detracts from a story with potential. Sabrina fails to understand her gradual distancing from Jessica is a natural consequence of the courses their lives have taken and Sabrina own disinclination to mature.
Also frustrating is the lack of exploration about the other guests, besides Tobias and Jessica, with Sabrina closed off to the idea of reflecting on her relationship with her dad or attempting to understand his descent into alcoholism. As to why Professor Conrad and Audrey were in attendance I have absolutely no idea and I am not quite sure Rebecca Serle did either! They offer little more than mindless filler talk at the table and break up the monotony of a love story that Sabrina refused to believe wasn’t written in the stars and there is little understanding of how they have instrumentally influenced Sabrina’s life story.
In short, The Dinner List proved a frustrating reading with a jarringly disjointed narrative that prevented fluidity. Together with negligible chemistry between characters and numerous cigarettes or expressing breast milk between courses, this is one dinner party that I could have well done without! More surprising is that there are few positive signs for the future and with some guests dead and strained relationships with loyal Jessica unimproved, one wonders what the future holds for thirty-year-old, Sabrina. At sub 300 pages there is little room for depth in Serle’s story and the presence of guests beyond Tobias seems to be as nothing but a buffer to move the tale of an ill-fated love story forward and the pity is that the story still feels interminably drawn out! Recommended for YA readers in search of an angst ridden love story and definitely not the emotional voyage that I had hoped for!
With thanks to Readers First who provided me with a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.
The variety of guests from across Sabrina’s lifetime to date should have made for a fascinating exploration of why human life deals us the hand that is does and an attempt to address all the moments that have defined a lifetime. From the best-friend that Sabrina met as a nineteen-year-old freshman who has since married and become a mother, Jessica, to her once alcoholic estranged father, Robert, who abandoned her and her mother at the age of four, to the intriguing inclusion of a philosophy professor, Conrad, from college and that of famed screen actress, Audrey Hepburn. However everything revolved around the two highly fortuitous random meetings between Sabrina and Tobias, their different outlooks and goals and their incompatibility to exist in a world that necessitates work, money, responsibility, understanding and patience.
The narrative is made up of short chapters alternating between events at the dinner (told in the present-tense) and those over the course of Sabrina’s life and romance with Tobias, from initial sighting at age nineteen until its tragic end a decade later narrated in the past-tense. Other characters make appearances in Sabrina’s hindsight look back but they are few and far between and make limited contribution to her story. The chapters of two to three pages length make for a stop/start and disjointed narrative that prevents any opportunity for a head of steam to build up and precludes any meaningful exploration. Zero chemistry between characters, stilted dialogue at the table and Serle continuous need for Conrad and Audrey to interrupt and diffuse tension every time the current conversation gets anywhere near to probing (by calling for another course or more wine) is infuriating.
Character development is non-existent and the opportunity for addressing unresolved tensions, reconciling herself with past and moving on is a non-starter with immature Sabrina scoring points and airing grievances with her father, Robert, ex-boyfriend, Tobias, and even party organiser,
Jessica, whose friendship has drifted apart and more or less dissolved. Self-absorbed Sabrina and her contemporaries, Jessica and Tobias, are largely unsympathetic characters whose bickering detracts from a story with potential. Sabrina fails to understand her gradual distancing from Jessica is a natural consequence of the courses their lives have taken and Sabrina own disinclination to mature.
Also frustrating is the lack of exploration about the other guests, besides Tobias and Jessica, with Sabrina closed off to the idea of reflecting on her relationship with her dad or attempting to understand his descent into alcoholism. As to why Professor Conrad and Audrey were in attendance I have absolutely no idea and I am not quite sure Rebecca Serle did either! They offer little more than mindless filler talk at the table and break up the monotony of a love story that Sabrina refused to believe wasn’t written in the stars and there is little understanding of how they have instrumentally influenced Sabrina’s life story.
In short, The Dinner List proved a frustrating reading with a jarringly disjointed narrative that prevented fluidity. Together with negligible chemistry between characters and numerous cigarettes or expressing breast milk between courses, this is one dinner party that I could have well done without! More surprising is that there are few positive signs for the future and with some guests dead and strained relationships with loyal Jessica unimproved, one wonders what the future holds for thirty-year-old, Sabrina. At sub 300 pages there is little room for depth in Serle’s story and the presence of guests beyond Tobias seems to be as nothing but a buffer to move the tale of an ill-fated love story forward and the pity is that the story still feels interminably drawn out! Recommended for YA readers in search of an angst ridden love story and definitely not the emotional voyage that I had hoped for!
With thanks to Readers First who provided me with a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.