Notes on Heartbreak by Annie Lord: nonfiction book review

Notes on Heartbreak by Annie Lord

Overview: Annie Lord is a culture writer living in London. She'd been dating a guy she'd met in university for five years until one day he abruptly dumped her. Untangling her feelings about the guy, the break-up, and love as a whole consumes her next year as she tries to figure out how to process and move on. Overall: 4

Thoughts:

I am honestly confused why some names weren't changed to enable this book to be sold as a novel. I know Annie Lord has a platform from her online writing background, particularly when it comes to dating, so there's a natural crossover in launching this book, but it reads like Dolly Alderton's forays into novel writing. Stylistically, the book resembles a novel more than a memoir. Every page is a part of a scene with full dialogue and inner monologue and all the bits that make a book feel like a story. It weaves between flashbacks within the relationship told in past tense second person and present tense scenes from after the break-up told in conventional first person. There's none of the typical memoir remove or speaking directly to the reader. This also isn't a researched book, it's entirely rooted in personal experience. There is a running motif of Lord using bits of popular culture and wisdom from other thinkers and writers to contextualize what she's going through, but it's largely done in a way that simply builds onto her character.  Autofiction has become so big in recent years, no one would have batted an eye at a novel that mapped on to the author's life almost exactly. 

Regardless, the style certainly makes it much more fun and engaging to read, and I applaud Lord's ability to look at herself in an honest enough way to write herself as a compelling, flawed, dimensional character that experiences growth. I'd imagine that's a particularly difficult task when you're fully writing about yourself without any excuse of character. 

The book is a light (for the subject matter), easy read that would be great on vacation. If you enjoy Dolly Alderton's work, this is definitely a must read. 

Related Reviews:

Everything I Know About Love review

Good Material review

Ghost review

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