Ghosts

With over 27 million downloads of her podcast, two nonfiction books, and one novel, Dolly Alderton has established herself as a prominent British author, journalist, and podcaster known for her candid, often humorous reflections on relationships, self-discovery, and the complexities of modern adulthood. Dear Dolly, Alderton’s popular agony aunt column for the Sunday Times, tackled issues like modern dating and female bonds with honesty and wit. In 2022, Alderton assembled the columns into a book entitled Dear Dolly: On Love, Life, and Friendship […]. Alderton also co-hosted the gossipy pop culture High Low podcast with Pandora Sykes, and in 2018 she created a spinoff podcast, entitled Love Stories, where she interviewed guests about the most important relationships in their life (Marks, Olivia. “Dolly Alderton On Her Debut Novel Ghosts.” British Vogue, 3 Oct. 2020).  

In 2018, Alderton published her memoir Everything I Know About Love, which documents her first decade of adulthood and features relatable stories of navigating romance and friendships while growing up. Alderton also gained a following from a 2018 Times article she wrote about confronting a romantic partner who had ghosted her. Like her protagonist, Nina, Alderton stopped dating in her twenties and began again at 30 with the sole purpose of finding a life partner. However, she found that reentering the dating world in her third decade of life brought unexpected emotional challenges and external pressures. At the same time, she didn’t want to appear too eager or overly invested for fear of scaring men away. Despite similarities between Alderton and her protagonist, Nina, Alderton maintains that Ghosts isn’t about her. Rather, Alderton says her storyline came from numerous conversations she had with people about the pitfalls of modern dating. (Thompson, Courtney. “Dolly Alderton on Her Debut Novel and the Gendered Politics of Modern Love.” Marie Claire, 1 Dec. 2020).

After publishing Ghosts in 2020, Alderton turned her memoir Everything I Know About Love into a television show, working as the executive producer and head writer for each episode. Alderton’s 2023 follow-up to Ghosts, entitled Good Material, examines the view of romantic heartbreak from the male perspective. Through her books, advice column, and podcasting, Alderton captures the zeitgeist of navigating adulthood in the 21st century.