It's a common thought-provoking, hypothetical challenge: list the five people, living or dead, you'd most love to have dinner with. Although Sabrina made her list years ago, she's still stunned when she shows up to her own birthday dinner in Manhattan. Instead of only her best friend, Jessica, she also finds her estranged (now deceased) father, Robert; a beloved college professor, Conrad; her sort-of fiancé, Tobias (it's complicated); and Audrey Hepburn. As the evening unfolds, Sabrina and her companions examine the difficult truths about their intertwined lives: the romance, regrets and unexpected turns.Having previously written for a younger audience, Rebecca Serle (When You Were Mine) serves up a delicious, insightful account of friendship, family and deep love in The Dinner List, her debut for adults. She lays out her narrative along two parallel tracks: a time-stamped breakdown of the dinner party, slowly ticking down toward midnight, and a recounting of Sabrina's young adulthood and her love story with Tobias, spanning a decade. The latter story provides important background and fills in some blanks about the other characters: Sabrina's longtime connection with Jessica and their wildly differing approaches to life and love; the effect of her father's absence; Professor Conrad's influence on her life and philosophy. Hepburn, although Sabrina is named after one of her iconic roles, is the wild card at this dinner. But she's a gracious one: like the other characters, she asks incisive questions, makes the occasional wry joke and offers hard-won wisdom when it's needed.
Though all of them love Sabrina deeply, Serle allows her other characters their humanity as well. Jessica gets exasperated; Tobias withdraws or deflects when the conversation gets too serious. Even Conrad, who at first tries to guide the discussion in true professorial style, later opens up about his own challenges and regrets. Sabrina then is forced--gently but firmly--to confront the discrepancies between the stories she's been telling herself about her companions and the messier, more complex reality of each person. Love, romantic and otherwise, may be a basic part of life, but it's rarely simple or easy.
As the clock winds down toward midnight, Sabrina has the chance to make amends, ask important questions and simply enjoy being in the presence of her dinner companions. The evening includes grief, anger, apologies and frustration, but it is undergirded by genuine, clear-eyed love. Witty, sweet and unexpectedly moving, The Dinner List offers a menu of keen-eyed, compassionate insights about the relationships that nourish us. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams
Shelf Talker: An unexpected dinner party serves up delicious insights about life and love in Rebecca Serle's first novel for adults.