Clara’s Verdict
Sandi Toksvig is one of those writers — like Joanna Trollope, like Kate Atkinson — who make it look effortless, which is how you know it isn’t. Friends of Dorothy has a deceptively light touch: the comedy is warm, the characters are immediately legible, and the story moves with the pace of someone who has been telling stories professionally for forty years. But underneath the wit there is genuine feeling, and the novel’s central proposition — that family can be chosen rather than inherited — is one that Toksvig handles with the conviction of personal investment. Graham Norton called it « the perfect balm for these turbulent times, » which may be the most useful single-sentence description available. He’s right.
About the Audiobook
Amber and Stevie, a married couple, have found what they believe to be their perfect home on Grimaldi Square. The house comes with unexpected complications: an overgrown garden, a pub that has seen better decades, a nosy neighbour, and — seated on an old red sofa upstairs — the previous owner, eighty-year-old Dorothy, who has quite simply decided not to leave. Dorothy is foul-mouthed, straight-talking, wise, and entirely loveable, and she is only the first of the surprises the novel has in store.
The novel builds outward from the central relationship between Amber, Stevie, and Dorothy to encompass the community of Grimaldi Square — the kind of found family that develops around a particular place rather than being inherited. Toksvig’s skill is in making each of these characters feel specific rather than representative: Dorothy is not a symbol of a generation, she is a woman with a history. Amber and Stevie are not a symbol of contemporary partnership, they are two people navigating the surprises that arrive even in the most carefully planned life. The comedy is the means; the humanity is the end.
At 9 hours and 53 minutes, this is a novel that earns its leisure. It starts, as one reviewer correctly noted, slowly — but the investment pays off in the second half, where the complexity of the characters you’ve come to care about generates real emotional weight.
The Narration
No narrator is listed in the available metadata, but Little, Brown’s audio productions of Toksvig’s work have been well-regarded, and the material suits audio particularly well — the dialogue is sharp and the character voices are distinctive enough to reward a skilled narrator. The comedy in Toksvig’s prose is partly in the timing, and this is a book where a good performance will amplify everything that’s already on the page.
What Readers Say
Rated 4.3/5 from listeners. UK reviews describe it as « funny and brilliant, » with the caveat from one honest reader that it starts slowly. The warmest responses speak of « unbridled joy, » of finding something « impossible to love, » and of a book that « feels like a great big warm hug » — all of which might sound like damning with faint praise, except that Toksvig earns that warmth rather than manufacturing it. One reviewer did find it occasionally over the top, but acknowledged the strong sense of community the novel creates. The Sunday Times made it an instant bestseller, which reflects the audience Toksvig has built across her career.
Who Should Listen?
For readers who want warmth without sentimentality, comedy without cruelty, and characters they’ll genuinely miss when the story ends. For fans of Toksvig’s non-fiction, this is a welcome demonstration that her fiction is equally engaging. For anyone who has lived in a place that became a community, or wanted to. This is ideal for quiet evenings, Sunday afternoons, and any time the world has been too loud and you need something restorative. Also available on Kobo, Scribd, and Storytel.
