Three characters, one of them has been accused of rape. This is a well written book that at times, made me want to throw the book out the window, and other times keep flipping the pages. It was really well written. When Hannah finds out her boss has been accused of rape, we enter her POV of looking back at when she worked with him. at the same time, the bosses wife is struggling to come to terms with this accusation and what it says about her husband, their relationship, and her. It was a little slow but once it started getting going, it was so good.

I really enjoyed this book a lot more than I had expected to. The multiple character POV really added to the entire story and gave a real insight into each character and their traits.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

Brilliantly written novel dealing with very complex themes. Absolutely gut-wrenching at times. Sarah's writing is so compelling. I loved her first novel The Dinner Party and this one was even better.

Well, my goodness, am I the outlier here! I didn’t read any reviews until after I’d finished the book, so was astonished to see so many 5* reviews and such almost unanimous fulsome praise, because I thought the novel was so very ordinary and not all that interesting. For sure, it taps into the zeitgeist, into the #MeToo movement and all the associated scandals, but I didn’t think it added anything to the conversation and wasn’t particularly insightful. Told from three different perspectives – the accused, a famous chef, his wife and his alleged victim – we are given all sides of the story but I didn’t find any of them particularly convincing and I couldn’t really engage with the characters. It all seemed very formulaic to me, with the predictable twist later on. Never mind, I’ll just have to be the lone voice in the wilderness.

I found this book absorbing and very well-written on the level of the line. Gilmartin does excellent work evoking the restaurant culture of T and making its rhythms and characters feel real. It is difficult to make the three perspectives at the core of this novel work in conjunction--that of Hannah, the victim of Daniel; Daniel, the celebrity chef and rapist at the heart of an unfolding #MeToo scandal; and Julie, Daniel's long-suffering wife--but she carries off this difficult feat with grace. Daniel and Julie are, in particular, finely wrought and realistic; their relationship to one another feels lived-in, suffocating and visceral. This book felt like a cross between Stephanie Danler's Sweetbitter and Kate Elizabeth Russell's My Dark Vanessa and will be loved by fans of both.

As someone who worked in the service industry for 8 years, this novel gave me flashbacks. Not all bad though! It allowed me to remember how good it felt to be a part of a team, especially after a particularly challenging service.

Celebrity Chef Daniel is accused of rape by a former waitress in his high-end restaurant. The ensusing high profile trial forces Hannah to reckon with her own experience as a waitress in the restaurant one summer, during the height of Celtic Tiger excess in Dublin. The story alternates between the POV of Hannah, Daniel, and Daniel's wife Julie. This is a difficult read but handled carefully, Recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy.

** A copy of Service was provided by the publisher and NetGalley/Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review **

Sarah Gilmartin's Service is a short novel about gender and abuse in the restaurant industry told from the point of view of 3 characters - the accused and head chef, his wife, and a woman who is a former member of the waitstaff at the restaurant. The novel is short, yes, but it is powerful, and very necessary. I took my time with this novel - it is hard to read at times, especially excerpts from both the women. Overall, this story is gut-wrenching and deals well with conversations on justice, power, and consent. Definitely recommend!

This is a novel about a boogie restaurant in Dublin where the reader is taken behind the scenes to observe the operations of a busy restaurant and the allegations of sexual assault by the head chef. The story is heard from three different points of view – the waitress, the chef and the chef’s wife.

When Hannah hears that Daniel Costello is facing charges of sexual assault, she recalls the summer that she worked at his restaurant – the hard graft but also the after-hours partying and misogynistic treatment of the female staff. Daniel is denying all charges and can’t believe that this is happening to him after all his hard work coming from a background where he had nothing to be the accomplished chef that he is today. He tries to assure his wife, Julia, that the charges are false -- “Do I seem, have I ever seemed like a man who needs to force a woman to have sex with me?”

I thought the author did a really good job of detailing how money affected some people during the Celtic Tiger bubble and how it shaped their opinions of themselves, their decisions and personalities. I enjoyed reading about how a high-end restaurant operates, in particular the kitchen and the kitchen staff. It certainly made me wonder about a few restaurants that I have been to. Overall, I found Service to be a compelling story and certainly recommend it for anyone interested in #metoo stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Wow! I had read some rave reviews of this book so was delighted to get an ARC here. So often I read rave reviews, get excited to read and then am moderately to severely disappointed. Not so with Service. Believe the hype - this book is sensational. A searing look at a sexual assault allegation against a chef at the top of his game, we get the perspective of the chef himself, his wife and Hannah, a waitress who worked at his restaurant one summer while at college.
While this book is at times frustratingly infuriating, this speaks only to how well written it is. I couldn’t help but feel it read like a true story. I couldn’t put it down and will be recommending it widely. One of my favourites this year.

If you enjoyed Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler, or Primaface by Suzie Miller, you will absolutely love this one. I feel it is an amalgamation of the two that improves upon both books weaknesses and perfects the themes both endeavor to communicate, and does this simultaneously instead of in two separate novels.

Set in 3 perspectives, this novels main zenith is a restaurant mainly called “T”, and we experience its extremely toxic and sexually offensive atmosphere present at this workplace through a young female worker, the male owner, and the owners wife.

TW: sexual assault, rape, rapists perspective, court proceedings, heavy drug and alcohol use

We go back and forth from present day proceedings following a rape accusation at the male restaurant owner, to the years before the accusation, enlightened by all 3 main characters to the prolonged poisonous environment of this restaurant and its work staff. The writing here is addictive, succinct, and extremely vulnerable, in all three perspectives, but not in a way that would blend them together, each perspective still maintains an individual emotional perspective, and they slowly come to a head in the most interesting and poignant way.

This novel spotlights the normalized and considered “speculative” sexual assault and harassment present in the workplace, focusing especially on high stress ones with a large spectrum of types of people, as in a prestigious restaurant.

Once overcoming the hill of my personal aversion to largely culinary based novels, this book became such an addictive read that I consumed quickly and hungrily just like a guest at their restaurant, while also concurrently nauseated and sick at the sinister realities of the toxicity and criminal behavior that can present itself in the workplace and inevitably your personal life as well. Highly recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced digital copy in return for my honest review!

Service, Sarah Gilmartin's second novel, is told from three perspectives and across two time periods. It moves between present-day Dublin and the Dublin of the mid-00s, before the financial crisis and the collapse of the 'Celtic Tiger', but only one of its narrators spans both the before and the after: Hannah, who worked as a waitress at a high-end restaurant, T, while she was a student at Trinity, and is now in her thirties. Hannah remembers the frantic pace of waitressing at T, but it soon becomes clear that something much more traumatic happened to her there. Now, other members of female staff have come forward to accuse head chef Daniel Costello of rape. The case goes to trial, but Daniel, our second narrator, is adamant that he didn't do it. His wife, Julie, our third narrator, uneasily stands by him.

I think I would have been won over by Service if it had stayed with Hannah throughout. Her sections are well-observed and beautifully measured in the way Gilmartin deals with both her trauma and the day-to-day experience of working in T. While I would have liked more of a sense of her as a person outside the restaurant, and for some members of the secondary cast, such as Mel, to have come into greater focus, she's an interesting narrator. Sadly, I found Daniel's and Julie's sections two-dimensional in comparison. I couldn't figure out what the point of them was - I can't say that Gilmartin is playing with the reader's sympathies, as what happened here is so blatantly obvious from the start. Daniel is a caricature, Julie bafflingly unsympathetic. It also feels like very, very familiar material after a wave of #MeToo novels. Because I was uninvested in two-thirds of the narration, I found this a slow read despite its short page count. Gilmartin can absolutely write, though. 3.5 stars.

Former waitress Hannah hears that her ex-employer is up for trial on rape charges. She decides not to come forward but it thrown back to the time that she worked in Daniel Costello's restaurant. Daniel is in hiding, his world falling apart, his restaurant closed and all because some silly girl has accused him of something he didn't do - right? His wife, Julie, is also in hiding finally facing what she already knew was true but unable to continue with her affluent Dublin lifestyle and trying hard to hold her children together.
I was surprised by how much I really loved this book. The three characters are very different - Hannah naive, Daniel arrogant and Julie ignoring - but they are drawn together in the new #metoo world. That aspect worried me as I thought this might be a book which was forced but instead I found myself really investing in all the characters, even if the ending was a little cliched.

"Service" by Sarah Gilmartin is an exceptional read that delves into complex themes with an engaging and thought-provoking narrative. The story revolves around three main characters: Hannah, a former waitress at a high-end Dublin restaurant; Daniel Costello, the acclaimed chef facing serious accusations; and Julie, Daniel’s wife, grappling with the fallout from the allegations.

The novel begins with Hannah recalling her summer at Daniel's restaurant, a time filled with excitement and tension, which eventually turned darker as Daniel's attentions became inappropriate. Daniel, on the other hand, is in a state of disbelief as his career and life are threatened by accusations he can barely remember. Julie’s perspective offers a deep and often heart-wrenching look into the life of a supportive wife who is now questioning everything she believed in about her husband and their life together.

The character development is superb. Each character’s voice is distinct and compelling, revealing their struggles, fears, and the facades they maintain. Hannah’s recounting of her past experiences, Daniel’s denial and self-justification, and Julie’s internal battle and realization create a multifaceted view of the story, making it a rich and immersive read.

Gilmartin’s writing shines as she tackles themes of power, abuse, and complicity with nuance and sensitivity. The story is not just about the accusations but also about the impact on everyone involved. The alternating perspectives provide a well-rounded understanding of the characters’ motivations and emotions, making their experiences deeply relatable and real.

The setting of the high-end restaurant, with its intense atmosphere and behind-the-scenes look at the culinary world, adds an additional layer of interest. The detailed descriptions of the restaurant’s operations and the tension-filled environment enhance the overall narrative, making the reader feel immersed in the characters' world.

"Service" is a powerful exploration of truth, lies, and the courage it takes to confront painful realities. It's a book that stays with you long after you’ve finished reading, prompting reflection on the issues it raises. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a well-written, emotionally resonant novel that tackles difficult subjects with grace and insight.

Thank you to Pushkin Press for the ARC.

A sadly familiar scenario narrated by three key players- Daniel the chef accused of heinous behavior, his wife Julie who must face facts, and Hannah, a young waitperson who remembers her own experience with Daniel. Gilmartin has framed this carefully so that each perspective is balanced and nuanced. The Dublin setting is terrific. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Excellent read.

For fans of My Dark Vanessa, Jaded, and Like Happiness, this one will hit. It was a difficult but important read for me. As somebody who worked in the service industry and saw these things happen on a regular basis, it triggered some hard memories. But it really exploits what happens in the service industry and how oftentimes it goes completely unnoticed.

Absolutely brilliant! I read the dinner party and then was lucky enough to get access to Service! Absolutely spot on capturing the dilemma of consequence vs reward. The fine lines that are so easily ignored in relationships particularly professional with unequal power balance. Just brilliant thanks

An ambitious vision of topic to highlight: sexual assault in the kitchen scene, trials and public opinions as well as dilemma & turmoil that a wife faced as husband is charged with violation against women. I feel like the story were developing & walking into a direction that we end up never see or hear; the ending felt like it was cut short. Why would it be just.. that? That's the only reaction & last option that the key characters take and only on the last 10 pages of the book? The story & discussion would both be stronger if the author were braver & more decisive with their voice & the theme-plot they're trying to brought here. In the end, it become forgettable even though the reading experience gets me going. After putting it down, it doesn't stay with me.

I feel like this really has potential to be so much more and perhaps so important but then it falls short & don't deliver that, like it was abruptly cut. Maybe my expectations & what I know could become of this book also affected my post-reading experience.

Thank you to NetGalley & publisher for lending me this ARC in exchange for a review!

When a famous Dublin chef is accused of sexual assault, Hannah is forced to reflect on the summer she spent working in the high-end restaurant. As the court date looms, Service follows three narratives - Hannah, the accused chef Daniel, and Julie, his wife.

This was such a brilliant, evocative and impressive read. The three distinct narratives worked incredibly well. Hannah was a sympathetic and realistic character as she thought back to that summer and what she did and didn’t do. Daniel’s repulsive and unrepentant inner monologue was uncomfortable to read. Julie’s perspective was particularly interesting and nuanced as she tries to protect her sons and her life, while contemplating whether to support her husband. A particularly memorable bit is when she remarks that she often asked how did she not know her husband was involved with other women when the real question is how did she not know that her husband was a predator.

It’s such a well-written, accomplished novel. I highly recommend it.

A searing and topical read with themes of MeToo in a high-quality restaurant setting. A Michelin-starred chef facing rape allegations from ten years in Ireland. The story is narrated by three characters:
- Daniel is the fifty-something year old chef facing rape charges and currently on trial, his restaurant closed.
- Julie is Daniel’s wife, bearing the brunt of her husband’s infamy and trying to keep it together for her two sons.
- Hannah who is in her 30s but only 20-years old when she started working for Daniel and still dealing with her trauma.
This is a character driven read with the high-end restaurant vividly brought to life by Gilmartin: the fast pace, the tension in the kitchen and arrogance and anger of the chef. The food is fantastically described and the characters feel real. Gilmartin does a great job of not turning her characters, especially Daniel, into a caricature. My only gripe was the ending. It felt like it ended too soon and I wanted to see the fallout of the action. I didn’t understand why Daniel was so fixated by Hannah and why her action makes him react the way he does. However this was a stellar read.