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Olive

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What to expect

*Don't miss Emma Gannon's new novel, Table for One – available to buy now*

‘Explores such an important topic with a lightness and warmth’ Dolly Alderton

‘Thoughtful, funny, and honest’ Elizabeth Gilbert

‘It'll give a voice to countless women’ Marian Keyes

Olive and her friends have shared every milestone.

From first loves and first heartbreaks to flatshares and the first scary steps into the real world, they’ve been through it all – together.

But in the maze of life, through the winding paths that lead to different choices and different futures, will the bonds of friendship hold strong when Olive needs them most?

Moving, memorable and a mirror for anyone at a crossroads, OLIVE is a love letter to the life raft of female friendship and reminds us how, with a little courage, we can all follow our own paths.

Critics Review

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‘It explores such an important topic with a lightness and warmth’ Dolly Alderton

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‘This tale of four young women trying to sort out the dilemmas of motherhood … will bring relief and recognition to many. It’s a lovely book — thoughtful, searching, funny, and (most importantly) honest’ Elizabeth Gilbert

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‘Funny in parts, painful in others, thoughtful throughout, it explores many dilemmas, with characters who feel utterly real’ Sophie Kinsella

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‘It'll give a voice to countless women . . . a profound issue wrapped inside an accessible, highly engaging novel’ Marian Keyes

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‘Gutsy and refreshing’ HEAT

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‘It's warm and charming and yet VERY brave in its honesty about having children and how that impacts female friendships. I suspect a lot of women will feel relieved and seen when they read it’ Holly Bourne

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‘Important themes explored by a true champion of women’ Nina Stibbe

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‘Thought provoking with a wonderfully relatable hero’ Good Housekeeping

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‘So fresh and funny and utterly distinctive . . . I loved it’ Emma Jane Unsworth

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‘A delicate, heartbreaking and delicious story that will bring a pang of delightful recognition to every woman who reads it’ Scarlett Curtis

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‘A witty, tender portrayal of female friendship under pressure’ Mail on Sunday

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‘Honest, relatable, and incredibly real, Olive is going to resonate with an entire generation of young women’ Louise O’Neill

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‘In Gannon’s capable hands, women are not so much divided along their disparate lines – but united’ Pandora Sykes

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‘Cuts rights to the heart of conversations around women and the stereotypes we either adhere to – or reject’ Cosmopolitan

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‘I raced through this brilliant, brilliant book, feeling more thoroughly seen than I have in years. Olive's story is big and bright and beautiful, and holds up a much-needed mirror to society’ Lucy Vine

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‘Incredibly warm and loveable, you won’t be able to put Olive down’ Bustle

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User Reviews

Book 3.0
Narration 2.0
3.0
2.0
After so many recommendations to read Olive, I was excited to read a book that centres around a young woman deciding to live a child-free life.

However, I felt that Olive fell short in many ways. The dialogue felt wooden in most places, the characters seemed only to serve the purposes of Olive's own narrative, and the central 4 women were unlikeable and self-absorbed in a way that didn't seem realistic, considering their years of friendship. I enjoy reading books with unlikeable characters, but this didn't feel intentional.
I know that the book centres around having children (or the decision not to), so perhaps it's my fault for expecting something else, but I became quickly quite bored that every interaction Olive has provides another 'moral takeaway' for the reader. This felt much more like a lengthy blog post than good fiction.
The book picks up a little towards the end, but it felt like hard work getting there, and I was very relieved to finally get through it!

The narration by Sian Clifford only highlighted just how annoying the characters are! Thankfully, this is an X Book and I was able for the most part to read, instead of listen.

A reasonable attempt at an important topic, but Olive feels like an influencers attempt to become a fiction author, rather than the important book it ought to be.
megchaplin 08/12/2025

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