Nina Dean has arrived at her early thirties as a successful food writer with loving friends and family, plus a new home and neighbourhood. When she meets Max, a romantic hero who tells her on date one that he's going to marry her, it feels like all is going to plan.

A new relationship couldn't have come at a better time - her thirties have not been the liberating, uncomplicated experience she was sold. Everywhere she turns, she is reminded of time passing and opportunities dwindling. Friendships are fading, ex-boyfriends are moving on and everyone's moving to the suburbs. There's no solace to be found in her family, with a mum who's caught in a mid-life makeover and a dad who is vanishing into dementia.

Dolly Alderton's debut novel is about the unravelling of a seemingly successful life, exploring relationships, family, memory, and how we live now.