Customer Reviews

Dinner for Two

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In London, thirty-one years old Dave Harding is a music journalist for Louder magazine, a publication that boasts that its audience is "people who live for music" while his beloved wife Izzy works at Femme Magazine. He likes his work there so is a bit taken back when the magazine folds.

Through a friend Jenny, Izzy gets Dave a job as an agony aunt at Teen Scene. Dave provides relationship and other advice to mostly adolescent girls. Leery when he first started because he took himself seriously as a music critic, Dave soon realizes he is enjoying the advice column. However, as Izzy recovers from a miscarriage, Dave believes his biological clock is running down and needs a baby to feel fulfilled. Everything changes when thirteen-year-old Nicola sends him a letter at teen Scene insisting that he is not her agony uncle, but her biological father. He quickly believes she is right, but agonizes how to tell Izzy still healing from her miscarriage as he is terrified by how the woman who he loves with all his heart will react.

This lighthearted relationship drama stars a sensitive male who loves his wife so much that everyone knows it. Dave's need not to hurt the already battered Izzy actually leads to mistrust and doubt as his good intentions towards his spouse and his newly discovered teenage child backfires until the ladies come to the rescue. Mike Gayle furbishes a fine tale starring characters readers will cherish especially fumbling nurturing and loving Dave.

Harriet Klausner

Light, sweet, a dash of humour and a great read on a man's view of the world. A must!

Dave Harding is a British magazine music journalist. He is married to Izzy and they are beginning to think about kids when Izzy gets pregnant - then miscarries. She closes down and then Dave loses his job and he starts work as an "angry uncle" for a teen magazine. Nicola sees his picture and realizes he is her father and contacts him. Thus begins the dilemma of whether and how to tell Izzy about Nicola and what it all means for the rest of each of their lives. And, don't forget, he must keep dishing out advice to the teen girls along the way.

It's nice to see a book like this written by a male author and from a male's perspective in the actual text. Although seemingly hard to believe Nicola could find Dave this way, the topic is handled really well - without being mushy or preachy. The sub-plots about friends are under-developed, making you wonder why they are in there other than to fill spacebut, I guess the couple has to do something outside of being together.

The music magazine that Dave Harding works for folds, and so he gets hired as an agony uncle in a teen magazine. Amongst the letters of boy troubles is thirteen-year-old Nicola O'Connell's letter declaring that Dave is her father, and it's true. And while the newfound relationship between father and daughter is going great, Dave hurts his wife with the truth. An insightful and entertaining look on the modern man, and I really enjoyed this. (A+)

On the heels of finishing `MR. COMMITMENT' also by Mike Gayle I rushed out to buy one of his other critically acclaimed novels with high hopes of it being equal to or better than `MR. COMMITMENT'. Having read some of the reviews on Amazon I settled on `DINNER FOR TWO' which had an overall five star rating, and while I did enjoy it very much it was not quite up to the standard set by the previous novel. I still felt the same freshness when reading `DINNER FOR TWO' since it too is written from the male perspective which Gayle seems to be right on the money with, however, my problem with this book was that the ending seemed to be a little rushed. I feel as though, especially in a situation as complex as the one in this book, more than two pages is needed to wrap up the story.

Dave Harding always knew he wanted a family but being that his wife Izzy was never quite ready he knew that he loved her enough to wait. But when Izzy calls him one day and informs him that she is "late" he is through the roof. Although they try to contain their excitement until later in the pregnancy they cannot help but discuss baby names and imagine what their future is going to be like. That is until Izzy miscarries. Now their world is turned upside-down and much to Dave's chagrin Izzy decides that she cannot take that pain again and wants to hold off on trying again...indefinitely. Dave reigns in his now overwhelming desire to be a father in respect for his wife's feelings but when he receives a letter from a young girl claiming that he is her biological father he cant help but to want it to be true. As he grows closer to this beautiful thirteen-year-old girl the gap between he and Izzy grows as well and while he loves his wife more than anything he cannot deny his daughter whom he as grown to love just as much. Trying to make up for lost time Dave and his daughter keep their relationship a secret until it becomes a burden and everyone they love can no longer be kept in the dark.

`DINNER FOR TWO' was funny in parts and touching in others. Mike Gayle definitely has a flare for giving insight to the various aspects of the male mind and had the ending been a little fuller this would have easily been another five star book.

What a gem! Mike Gayle is a talented writer who has written a story that is part Nick Hornby and part Marian Keyes. Dave Harding is a typical guy who is happy with his life. He loves his wife and his career, but he soon finds himself the agony uncle at a teen magazine after his music mag folds. This is when the real story takes root. Dave receives a letter from a young woman who believes he is her father. The events that unfold are funny, touching, and told from a refreshingly male perspective. I really like this character, and Gayle tells his story beautifully and without the requisite fluff. I recommend this book to readers looking for a fresh point of view from a writer who will surely become one you will often read.