Britain’s beloved romance-columnist-turned-novelist is finally bringing Ghosts to readers across the pond.
“You’re better than this, the fan admonished.
This kind of transference has become a regular part of the London-based Alderton’s career.
‘Ghosts,’ by Dolly Alderton.
“You’re also paying your rent by inviting people in,” she says.
“So it’s part of the deal.”
The potential for confusion between author and subject is clear, but Alderton is not Nina.
Dolly Alderton.Alexandra Cameron
In fact, the distance between the author and her character gave her freedom she wasn’t quite expecting.
“I was able to write characters who thought and did morally dubious things,” she says.
“Nina is more caustic and cynical than I am.
It’s me, on my fifth glass of wine, feeling my most crotchety.”
“I resented how much the visibility of his aging seduced me,” Nina says in the novel.
“Had it been worn by a woman, I might have found it haggard rather than weathered.”
But don’t mistake insight for omniscience; Alderton is still figuring life out too.
“Ghosts, Alderton, and her legion of fans are all the better for it.
