It’s a questions game we’ve all been part of at one time or another, giving insight into the person who answers: If you could invite five people, living or dead, to dinner, who would they be and why?
Sabrina arrives an hour late at a fancy restaurant to celebrate her thirtieth birthday. A table is reserved, and she sits down to all the familiar faces waiting for her. Her longtime best friend is there, that’s natural, expected even, but then so is her estranged father, her favorite English Professor, her ex, and then, of course, Audrey Hepburn. What’s a person to do? Sit down and order the first course!

The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle looks at two specific glimpses in the life of Sabrina—where she is now at thirty-years-old, and how she got here. It’s an examination of Sabrina’s choices, the moments that were the very best, and the moments that were the very worst. Serle writes this magical realism story as a way for the reader to pause and wonder, where am I? How did I get here? And do I have any regrets along the way?

This book is refreshing, fascinating, and an experience that makes one wonder who would they invite, living or dead, to a dinner party and why? A reader might also consider are they interesting or impactful enough in someone else’s life to be present at a wish-list dinner table?