The Near Daphne Experience is the first adult novel by Australian author, Alison Reynolds. Can you actually tell a story in emails, letters, memos, texts and a press article, when the only direct input from the protagonist is scant notes on a patient file? If you’re as clever as Alison Reynolds, you can indeed. So, from one side only of multiple conversations, the reader learns that:

… thirty-five-year-old psychiatrist, Dr Daphne Buckley is still single, a situation her mother and her best friend since high school would like to remedy. Not that Daphne is against the idea, but choosing her own partner appeals more than having Mariana Buckley find one for her. She works in a psychiatric facility in rural Victoria, not the best place to meet a mate, but she has taken action to remedy that.

Her correspondents (some of whom the reader will easily recognise from their own life):
Celeste Smythe, a best friend who gave up all prospect of career for marriage and two young children;
Mariana Buckley, a forceful mother who claims to act in her daughter’s best interests, unfailingly critical bar the occasional back-handed compliment;
Jonathan Cullinan, a patient being treated at Peaceful Glades psychiatric clinic, diagnosed as a psychopath and narcissist, convicted of murder, a fan of Myra Hindley;
Professor Augustus Fulbright, Daphne’s senior colleague who apparently has no qualms about taking credit for her work;
Digby Smythe, successful barrister, husband of Celeste, trying to be a sensitive New Age guy and fairly obviously in love with Daphne;
Hubert Buckley, a conservative, surprisingly perceptive and very supportive father, a good judge of character;
George Prendergast, an elderly would-be suitor with a love of Wagner, answering Ms Fun-Loving and Outdoorsy’s personal ad.
Harley Davison, an advertising executive, the most likely prospect out of those responding to Ms Fun-Loving and Outdoorsy’s personal ads.
Melissa Motti, teenaged ex of Harley and devoted fan of Daphne;

And Daphne herself? She’s perhaps not as sweet and true as many of those correspondents believe…

As the story leaps from quirky to outrageous to ridiculous, it’s quickly apparent that this is a blackly funny farce which the reader should just sit back and enjoy. The guaranteed but unpredictable laugh-out-loud nature of the story does require a warning: best not read on public transport, if you have continence issues, or whilst eating/drinking. Hugely entertaining!
This unbiased review is from a copy provided by Affirm Press.