Living the Dream, Lauren Berry
Living the Dream, Lauren Berry
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Living the Dream
A Novel

Author: Lauren Berry

Narrator: Saskia Maarleveld

Unabridged: 8 hr 37 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/15/2017


Synopsis

A cheeky, charming debut about twentysomething best friends in London navigating their careers and love lives past post-collegiate turmoil and into adulthood with lots of pints along the way

Emma is a rising star at the marketing firm she works at as a "creative," but would have trouble describing what exactly it is she does all day. She pours most of her actual creative energy into a popular blog that all of her friends agree is brilliant, but she has yet to make a cent on it. Clem is a massively talented screenwriter just back from New York, where she picked up a fancy graduate degree in film. But until she convinces an agent to take on her masterpiece script, she's stuck hostessing at the bar she frequented as an undergrad, and the only calls she's getting are about bills past due and overdrawn bank accounts. In their ironclad friendship both girls find a reliable break from the post-collegiate absurdities and indignities that seem to abound in life right at the moment they feel they should finally be getting it all together. With a rotating cast of lovably insufferable friends, from Emma's fabulous DJ and ladies’ man roommate to Clem's painfully ordinary and predictable childhood chum, the girls wind their way through the twists and turns of aging parents and terrible bosses and regrettable one night stands, unforeseen setbacks and blessings that present as anything but, and remind each other that while their ships might not have come in yet, the after work drinks are cold and the company can’t be beat.

About Lauren Berry

Lauren Berry is the founding editor of satirical feminist ‘zine KnockBack and has been writing for and about women since 2005. Her work has been featured in Easy Living, Guardian, Observer and Independent. She was born, raised and works in North London. Living the Dream is her first novel.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sam

Emma and Clem are twentysomething Londoners who want to be writers. And, er, that’s it - Lauren Berry neglected to include a story in her debut novel, Living the Dream! Emma’s the realist of the two, working an office job to pay the rent and writing in her spare time, while Clem’s the dreamer, goin......more

Goodreads review by Jessica

I received this book for free through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers. I give this book 3.5 stars which rounds up to 4. First off, I don't see why a coffee cup was chosen to be on the cover. The main characters are constantly drinking alcohol not coffee. I wasn’t blown away by this book. It definitel......more

Goodreads review by Blair

A sparky slice of 21st-century chick lit (that is, the type you absolutely don't call chick lit) about two friends in their late twenties, Living the Dream fizzes with humour and intelligence. Emma, who always wanted to be a writer, is stuck in a job at an advertising firm; it pays the bills, but sh......more

Goodreads review by Sofia

"I don't believe it's what you want to do that makes you who you are. It's what you actually do that forms the basis of your character." This book had a nice message, but the pacing was wrong and all the ends were tied up too nicely. It also felt as though the characters did not develop at all throug......more


Quotes

AudioFile Earphones Award Winner
"A dynamite performance by Saskia Maarleveld illuminates this coming- of-age chick lit about an odd, hilarious friendship that millennials will find relatable.
Maarleveld can transform her voice to perfectly fit the characters--from the quaintest to the most obnoxious--making listeners laugh throughout." -AudioFile