The Actual One

Suttie’s debut memoir tackles what it’s like to be left behind when your friends take the leap to marriage, having babies, and buying houses—and you’re not sure you want to follow. After Suttie, a British comedian and writer, went through a difficult break-up with a longtime boyfriend, her newly pregnant friend, told her that getting “the one” out of the way just means she’s ready to find “the actual one.” Fighting the idea of coupling and adulthood, Suttie set out to enjoy her time as a single woman. As she narrates this experience, she shares her path from struggling as a comic and actress, making ends meet by working in a call center for a nearly bankrupt meal delivery service, to having her passion cover her living expenses. The reader gets to know Suttie through her stories of getting heckled off stage, drinking at pubs, and spending time with friends, all while trying to figure out her love life and the changes around her. Overall this is an entertaining read, but at times her stories fall flat, like they’re missing a punch line, and readers unfamiliar with British idioms may find that whole passages feel like reading a foreign language. (Jan.)