Book review: A worthy insight on life and relations but loses its way geopolitically

The premise is original and, at least for the first half, the novel is entertaining and at times very funny, however the second half of the novel is disappointing

Colleen Oakley’s story about Jane and Dan offers insight into contemporary life but becomes disjointed addressing global issues.

• Jane and Dan at the End of the World 
• Colleen Oakley
• Fleet, £16.99 

Jane and Dan have been married for 19 years. 

Jane feels dissatisfied with her life; their teenage children no longer need her, and she’s particularly dreading the departure of their daughter to college, described as “anticipatory grief”.

Also, her writing career has not been a success, her only novel published six years earlier sold less than 500 copies. 

She has spent the years since then struggling to write another novel and receiving rejections. 

Most upsetting is that she’s certain Dan is cheating on her. He has started exercising and she’s seen suspicious text messages. 

So, Jane has decided that when they go to the Michelin-starred restaurant La Fin du Monde to mark their wedding anniversary, she will tell Dan she wants a divorce.

No sooner has she announced this, and they’ve been served their first course, when they are interrupted as an armed climate activist group bursts into the restaurant.

Jane is shocked, obviously, but not just because of the hostage situation, it’s also because she quickly realises that almost everything the activists do and say echoes what happens in her failed novel, ‘Tea is for Terror’.

The premise is original and, at least for the first half, the novel is entertaining and at times very funny, particularly with its commentary on marriage, motherhood, and contemporary life. 

The second half of the novel is disappointing. It becomes disjointed, and the commentary about capitalism and the environment is not convincing.

At the beginning the reader experiences Jane embarking on a journey of self-discovery, trying to redefine her identity beyond that as a wife and mother, and her self-reflections are convincing.

Dan seems rather clueless, and there’s a rather touching description of him examining his bald spot before they set off for the restaurant.

He is likeable but seems out of touch — early on we’re told he doesn’t use any social media and has no idea what influencers are. 

However later in the novel, when it matters, he proves to be much more sensible than Jane’s descriptions of him have led us to expect.

Some of his habits really irritate Jane. He frequently asks her where his wallet is when it’s always on the hall table. 

He is also convinced that it’s their 20th rather than their 19th anniversary.

While there are interesting discussions about relationships and how they, and our expectations for them, change over time, these insightful and often comic remarks fade as the novel progresses.

Among the most amusing touches are the criticisms of the pretentiousness of restaurants like La Fin du Monde, which holds the Guinness world record for the most expensive dessert — it costs $8.4m and “has famously only been ordered once”. 

The waiters there are called ‘dinner captains’ and Jane wonders if that “started around the same time they started calling bartenders mixologists”.

As they start their first course, which they don’t manage to finish as they’re interrupted by the activists, Dan asks: “What is matsutake mushroom foam and why does it cost two hundred dollars extra?”

While Jane and Dan are convincing characters, others are not, and the novel loses focus about halfway through. Kit is an unnecessary character, a bumbling police officer, whose inclusion adds nothing to the narrative.

Colleen Oakley is a best-selling American author, and her other novels have been translated into more than 20 languages.

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