Familiar, hopeful and inspiring
—
Willow has it all: the perfect home, the perfect job, the perfect boyfriend. Until it all goes away in one moment, the man she’s been supporting all these years in their joint startup deciding that Willow isn’t who he wants any more. So what’s a woman to do when life hands you a figurative dumper truck of lemons?

The beats are all very familiar, the situations as you’d expect, as if there’s a great self-actualisation novel generator that takes all the tropes of the sub-genre—a little bit romcom, a little bit self-help—shakes them up and throws them back out in a neat list. It’s all very hopeful and inspiring but, like the best fast food, it was great going in, utterly forgotten straight afterwards.

Willow's world falls apart when her long-term boyfriend and business partner decides he wants to go it alone. In one fell swoop Willow loses her partner, her business and her home.

What ultimately gets her through this period of intense grief is her beloved Aunt Carla, her friends and a new career opportunity. Invited to write a piece on Naz, an influencer who advocates the single life, she slowly begins to remember who she was before she settled for a life that wasn't meant for her.

Table for One is a love letter to female solidarity and love in all its shapes and sizes. It's a story about finding what sparks real joy and daring to live bravely.

Willow and her boyfriend’s start-up business is thriving and she’s sure it won’t be long until they marry and start a family. But Willow is mistaken, she finds herself single and pushed out of the business, trying to rebuild a whole new life she’d never imagined. She becomes infatuated with a Gen Z influencer who markets her single status as the ultimate goal and Willow reignites her old passion for journalism when she writes a piece on the influencer. Along with the support of Willow’s fun and caring (dachshund owner) aunt Carla, Willow discovers the beauty of her new unexpected and independent lifestyle.

This was a very easy read (despite being blind sighted by a sad event at the end). It’s very much a reassuring book for anyone going through a breakup or trying to embrace a newly single life, although I couldn’t relate at the time I read this I still found Willow’s journey to finding peace comforting.

Emma Gannon’s books are so good at making the reader feel not alone, from Olive to The Success Myth and now this. This is a sweet reminder of the importance of self-love and female relationships.

Heartfelt, funny, and wonderfully relatable 💫. Table for One is a love letter to independence, self-discovery, and learning to embrace your own company. Emma Gannon writes with warmth and wit, turning what could be a lonely journey into a joyous adventure of growth. I adored the message that happiness isn’t defined by relationships but by knowing yourself—and that sometimes, the best company is your own. Full of charming anecdotes and sharp insights, this book is a must for anyone navigating life solo, or simply needing a reminder that solitude can be beautiful.

What happens when you need to start over in your mid 30s after a 10 year relationship ends? This is exactly what Willow has to figure out when it happens to her.

For the last 10 years Willow has slowly lost herself and she didn't even realise, so when Dom decides to tell her he wants to make his company (a company she helped start) bigger and better and move to New York alone, shes very hurt and shocked as she thought they were moving to marriage and babies.

Willow has the opportunity to write a piece of journalism for an online magazine about the difference between a settled millennial and a single self loving Gen Z, but is everything we see online really as it seems and how can she write this piece now she isn't in a settled relationship and feels in limbo.

This book really captured not only starting over in your 30's but also the way friendship change as we grow up and also how you each fit into each others lives when you are all at different stages.

Thank you NetGalley & HarperCollins, for this ARC.

I'd recently read Really Good, Actually, and this is the mature, grown-up, sensible version of that story that I enjoyed so much more.

It's the standard "what if the life that you've built for so long, and expected to continue, sidelines you and begins to break down", but it's told well. Willow is a likeable character because she bears a lot, but learns to adapt to her new life in a way that is wholly believable and quite wholesome.

Willow's support network is strong and also features characters that aren't just there to support her, but are characters in their own right. It's also lovely to see Willow exploring her own passions again, but without compromising her morals.

It doesn't reinvent the genre, but it tells it well.

Emma Gannon crafts a great novel. I enjoy the writing style. The characters are brilliant. It was a great read!

A very quick and easy read about Willow. Very funny in places, and it's written really well. Would definitely recommend

Olive was one of my favourite books the year I read it, so I was very excited to read another fiction book by Emma Gannon.

I liked the messages in this book and how this showed friendships can become strained. How some people gradually lose themselves in a relationship and are unable to empathise with how their single friends may feel.

Unfortunately, I found Willow an incredibly frustrating character. She spends a lot of time wallowing in self-pity and is a massive hypocrite. While she does experience some growth, I felt it could have been handled in a more satisfying way. The way her friends’ storylines were wrapped up also felt rushed and random.

This hasn't put me off reading more books by Emma Gannon as I still enjoy her writing but unfortunately this story wasn't for me.

While I'm not 100% the audience for this, I picked it up because I've loved Gannon's non-fiction work. I'd imagine this is painfully relatable for a lot of people. It has some sharp reflections on relationships ending and learning to be an individual person again, even as you're surrounded by coupled up friends. About the pressure to be in a couple, yet how you can lose yourself in a relationship. How lonely modern life can feel at times until you hit on the thing that gives you a spark. Really interesting meditation on modern life.

A fantastic read, I read this so quickly and have recommended to all of my friends! I really enjoyed the exploration of solitude, self love, friendship and life after a long term relationship ends. Highly recommend!

“I felt like I was in a kid’s doll house, playing pretend grown-ups, always worried I’d knock something over and ruin the whole thing.”
Willow is in her 30s, plodding along at work and in her long term relationship, wondering when she’ll be married with babies like her friends around her.
When all of a sudden, she finds herself single, jobless and trying to start again. Table for One explores loss, grief and finding your own path. With a varied cast of characters and relatable issues, it’s an extremely readable story with really moving parts. Willow takes you along all the highs and lows as she tries to navigate who she is now and who she once was.

✨Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an eARC of this book!✨

I enjoyed Olive a lot, but sadly this didn't hit those same heights. I felt there was a lot of this book that was either predictable or ridiculous.

Willow wasn't as strong a character as I had wished she would be. I wanted her to be the one to break off the relationship with Dom. I wanted her to be a better friend to her group, especially to Pen. I wanted her to be kinder to Naz. It all just left me wanting a bit more.

She was also incredibly two-faced. Things that were fine when she did it were the absolute work of the devil if done by her friends. She looked down on Naz so much for being single and happy. Willow may not be a likeable person, but she did make for compelling reading.

Some of the actions of Willow's friends toward the end of the book really made me cringe.

However, I loved Willow's aunt. I loved that she had someone in her life who truly cared for her.

Thank you to netgalley for allowing me to review this book.

Enjoyable enough read, but largely forgettable. Dom is annoying, and Willow shows absolutely zero self-awareness.

I found it hard to get into the story and thought it was a bit drawn out.

Thanks to Emma Gannon and NetGalley for this ARC!

Unfortunately the word that sums this read up for me was “unremarkable”. It very much fades into the kind of books I would expect to show up under “holiday reads” signs in bookshops. The protagonist is often hypocritical and didn’t at any point feel like a character I connected with very much. Unfortunately there are so many books like this one out there at the moment (with authors like Dolly Alderton and Sally Rooney) and unfortunately there wasn’t really anything in this that set it apart for me.

Disclaimer: e-Arc provided by HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction via Net Galley for Review. All thoughts are my own. My thanks to HarperFiction, for providing me with the arc for review.

Plot
Willow thinks her life is perfect - living with her boyfriend of ten years, working in their business and a great friend group. When suddenly, her boyfriend dumps her and she is left to face life alone.

Thoughts
I think this book is pitched wrong?! The descriptions I’ve seen online say it’s all about a woman embracing life alone, but it’s much more about the end of her relationship and how that impacts her life.

The book alternates chapters in the presence and in the past - looking at her relationship with her ex, friends and the aunt who raised. Willow is reflecting on her life, to figure out where to go next.

Overall, I like the character relationships, but found the plot a bit boring.

A good positive read. It reminds us that we all need time alone to be with ourselves. Willow is "old" one, in ger 30s and she is following the life of social media gen Z sensation Naz who is in her early 20s. It's good how Willow reflects as I think us women do, looking back. As someone in their 40s it was reminding me of my 20s and 30s and I'm sure in my 50s I'll look back. Basically it's a live you own life, not others and make yourself happy kind of book

This is the first book I’ve read by the author and I absolutely loved it! Willow is one of those characters you immediately warm to, and I found myself unable to put down the book until I knew how things worked out for her - I also loved all of the strong female characters around her and the strong message about independence and empowerment which came across.

There were moments of laughter, heartache and rage, and at times it was painfully relatable - a fantastic and insightful read!

I loved this book!! I loved how it kept me wanting to read on and on and that I didn’t want to put it down. I was in a bit of a slump and this has definitely brought me out of it. I love how hopeful it was and how it makes you feel like anything is possible (in a realistic way)!

I loved the characters and felt like I was really rooting for them all. I loved how I could imagine them as real people and I feel all their choices and storylines were believable.

This would definitely be a fab book for someone who is newly single and maybe needs some guidance and encouragement!

I’d definitely recommend this book!

Table for one? Yes, please!

After years pushing forward in her relationship, and going through the motions in her career, Willow is suddenly left on her own and having to start again.

Throughout the book, Gannon highlights the difference between loneliness and being alone, how there’s no one path for everyone, and that love comes in many shapes and sizes.

Written beautifully, Table for One is the perfect for read for anyone who thinks their life isn’t where it ‘should’ be.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the ARC.