The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle - Book Review

By
Adonis Monahan
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The Dinner List

The Dinner List, released in 2018 and written by the beloved romance writer Rebecca Serle, is a seemingly frothy novel that buries within it some deep philosophical musings on love, loss, and the healing process.

The book was a smash hit two years ago, and critics and readers alike rejoiced upon reading it - finally, it seemed, a page-turning novel that was both comforting and incredibly intelligent about how it approached its topics.

The novel’s central premise is this: what if we could schedule a night of dinner with people we love - some of whom we know personally, others being icons that populate a special place in our imagination - and somehow work out our anxieties and pain over a luxurious ten-hour dinner? Or, a much shorter one; who knows? The Dinner List dabbles in plenty of magical realism, and while certain chapters begin with a timestamp, it is done in a winkingly sardonic way since readers can already tell that they are in a story wherein time doesn’t necessarily “make sense.”

Book Details

Title: The Dinner List

Format: Paperback

Author: Rebecca Serle

Language : English

Publisher : Flatiron Books

ISBN: 125029519X

Sabrina arrives at her thirtieth dinner party astounded to find seated at the table her best friend, a former lover, her dad, and Audrey Hepburn leading the proceedings. She is not quite sure how these people came to be assembled, but she accepts it with little protest, as does the reader.

As the wine flows and one course after the other come barricading from an unseen kitchen in the restaurant, everyone at the table reminisces and Sabrina remembers key turning points in her life, especially when she first moved to New York City and how she met (at least some of) the people at the table.

Here the novel moves between flashbacks and the present dinner party, cleverly obscuring what time means as a sort of fantastical element takes over - even though the novel doesn’t fully indulge in that aesthetic. It remains fully grounded in a bittersweet reality.

The Dinner List can perhaps best be described as an excellent romance for those who typically don’t go for the genre - it expounds upon its central precepts and creates something new altogether.