Animals by Emma Jane Unsworth

I read a book recently that was discussing alcohol, and essentially discussing what excessive looks like. According to this novelist, if you drink beyond three glasses of wine or thereabouts a sitting, or lose a level of control over yourself, or do not have a full recollection the next day, more than occasionally – you should book a GP appointment. Whilst this is probably true according to NHS and health body guidelines, I do believe that this is not representative of many people’s University experience or the duration of a stereotypical British person’s twenties (or thirties…or forties). If your experience and opinion towards alcohol looks similar to those guidelines, I do not think you will enjoy, or perhaps understand, this book.

Our eyes of the novel are Laura, on the very edge of her twenties and entering her thirties throughout the novel. An aspiring writer who has worked a string of different unfulfilling jobs, she is the antithesis of her classical musician fiancé, Jim – the one with the steady income, clean, homely flat and family aspirations. However, the majority of the book is centred on Laura’s relationship with her American flat mate Tyler. Their relationship can be understood through the fact that a hangover is just the way that you feel every Saturday and Sunday morning – in addition to most Tuesdays and Thursdays also.

At the inception of the novel, I believed the story arc would concern the complexities of female friendship, and how intense and heart breaking those sorts of relationships can be, especially when mixed with the prospect of a “sensible” marital relationship. Whilst this is partially true, one criticism of Unsworth’s work is that I could not particularly tell you what the storyline was. Laura undoubtedly developed as a character, however, there wasn’t a storyline as such. The novel had a tendency to lurch from one drunken encounter to another, with a bizarre addition of attending a wedding and also the Edinburgh comedy festival. Therefore whilst this novel is a journey of character development, it offers little in terms of storyline, and at times I did feel this was due to the author preferring to create funny and impossible anecdotes rather than a rich and clear story.

Conversely, enjoyment of the novel is easily found in aforementioned funny and impossible anecdotes. This book will keep you entertained and laughing. From Bridget-Jones-But-Sexier impossible situations, and a realistic and funny monologue. When the characters wake up smelling of shame, cigarettes and regret you may be able to relate, but most females will certainly relate to the closeness of Tyler and Laura – it is beyond sisterly to the extent of superhero and side-kick. Except Batman and Robin are armed with New Zealand Sauvingon and malboro lights, and just getting over a row they had about Blur. However – this could be myself personally, but I found Tyler’s character particularly grating by the end of the book. Tyler was a character of outlandish comments and opinions, and her unchanging character solicited little sympathy from myself as a reader, and Laura was closely behind.

As with many books I enjoy but am not enamoured with, I would not read this book again, due to unsympathetic characters, occasionally forced humour and lack of storyline. Despite the slim volume of the book I struggled to finish it, and found myself reaching for different volumes instead. However, it must be said that I would recommend this to a female friend – it would make a fantastic present for a sister or best-friend, it is littered with humour and relatability. Unsworth’s writing is clever, her writing style can be rich and interesting, and whilst she manages to avoid the cliché pitfalls that many books about female friendship do, her lack of storyline lacks energy to propel you to the end. Furthermore, the ending is plausible and satisfying in some respects but leaves the Tyler-Laura friendship in question and her writing aspirations unexplored. It was not quite the “drunker, swearier Girls” I was looking for, but nonetheless an entertaining read – I would certainly look out for the author in the future - I would love to see a short story collection from her.