I spent the better part of my summer this year reading Dolly Alderton’s Everything I Know About Love and here’s what I think:
This is a book you revisit year after year.
Being only 17 years old reading this book about a woman discovering herself and the importance of the relationships throughout her life up until her 30s, I realize that this book wasn’t entirely targeted at me who hasn’t even experienced a whole year of college life, but that’s okay.
I actually think it’s beneficial that I read this book early on in my life, so as I grow and experience more things I can go back and revisit this book as it becomes more relatable to me.
This is not to say that I couldn’t relate to any of the book, it’s entirely the contrary. The overarching theme of the importance of a girl’s female friends and loving yourself are universal truths for all women or people in general, whatever their age.
If you are unfamiliar with the premise of this book, here is a bit of a synopsis.
Everything I Know About Love is a memoir written by journalist Dolly Alderton about her life and, essentially, everything she has learned about love from her relationships and experiences through that journey. It starts from her childhood at an all-girls prep school, and follows her through college, new stages of adulthood, and finally up to her turning 30.
After new age milestones, Dolly would compile a new list of everything she knew about love at that time. Sometimes it was comical, you would laugh at her naive assumptions or brazenness as a girl, but gradually those lists made you stop and think about what you think love is and what kind of love you think you deserve. After I finished the book, I felt compelled to start writing my own list so I would have something to look back on and see my own growth as a person throughout my life.
This book is not one you necessarily curl up and read in one sitting. This is a book that you read a few chapters then sit back and ponder what you’ve just read and how you feel about it.
Originally, I found this book a little hard to get into, partly because I had been in a reading slump for months, and partly because I had never read a memoir before. Soon, however, I started to become more invested in what she had to say. When I finished this book, I was nearly brought to tears while lying on the beach in front of my entire family.
Dolly felt like a big sister, a best friend, sharing stories that make you laugh, and giving you advice that you hold onto fiercely and live by. The last few chapters of the book filled my heart up with a feeling I can only think was love itself. Love for my friends, my family, myself, and love for women in general.
Please read this book, and then read it, again and again and again.