THE PLOT: ‘Piglet’ by Lottie Hazell is contemporary fiction about a woman whose fiancé tells her a terrible secret two weeks before their wedding. Piglet – an unshakeable childhood nickname – and her fiancé are the picture of upper middle-class bliss. They throw elaborate dinner parties at the Oxfordshire home they bought with a deposit courtesy of his parents and shop at Waitrose every week. But when he reveals a secret just before their picture-perfect wedding, Piglet spirals and can’t stop eating. After coming so far from her simple midlands’ upbringing, she must decide whether to throw away the life she has carefully constructed.

SUMMARY:  This was a hell of a ride. At less than three hundred pages, I gobbled it up within 24 hours because I could not get enough. It’s very funny, sharply written and the characters are so on point it hurts. The tight plot and pacing has you counting down the days to the wedding, so invested that you’re on the edge of your seat. Plus, I loved the way food is used and referred to throughout the narrative and the implicit comment on women’s bodies and appetites. This book will obviously be compared to ‘The List’ by Yomi Adegoke and I don’t want to pit these two authors against each other. However, I will say that both books suffer from a lack of agency from the main character because, ultimately, they each need to make a decision and stick to it. Overall, I found the tension and character motivations stronger in ‘Piglet’, which alleviated some of the frustration. Yet I did feel slightly disappointed with the ending, which is why it wasn’t quite five stars.

GOOD BITS: The only word I can use to describe the writing is sharp. The sparse sentences prick you with their precise character observations. Honestly, reading this felt like a hilarious take-down of sections of my friendship group and a cathartic outpouring for all the “jolly nice” weddings I’ve been to in the past few years. The characters are hilarious and so well-observed, I laughed out loud on several occasions. The way food is included throughout the story and how it is used to summarise characters is genius. I’ve been particularly raving about that croquembouche…

NOT SO GOOD BITS: This is somewhat a spoiler but I feel it’s my duty to address: you do not find out what Piglet’s fiancé did. I’ve wrestled with whether to include this in my review but, ultimately, it’s the key reason why this book wasn’t a five star for me. I understand the author’s choices – by the midpoint the reader has so many theories about what the fiancé did, it would be impossible to satisfy them with a secret that’s big enough to destroy the engagement but small enough to debate whether to stay. But, given the central premise is hinged around this secret, I feel the reader needs to know. Yes, this is about the main character’s journey but the nature of the secret fundamentally affects the plausibility of her actions and her development. And, as I read so eagerly to find out the secret, having it not be revealed was a let-down.

OVERALL: I’d recommend this book to fans of ‘The List’ by Yomi Adegoke, ‘Really Good, Actually’ by Monica Heisey and ‘Ghosts’ by Dolly Alderton. If you want a fun, fast and darkly comic book, this is one to nab.

Thank you to Doubleday for my #gifted proof copy in exchange for an honest review. ‘Piglet’ is out on 25^th January 2024 and available to pre-order on my bookshop.org page.