Sequence

Gwendoline Riley's The Palm House (2025) has been longlisted for the 2026 Booker Prize. The judges praised Riley for her 'trademark keen observation and wit' and suggested the novel will provide readers with 'a curious sense of possibility'. With this recommendation, I thought I would give this slender volume a go. Two days later, I have read The Palm House and feel underwhelmed by the novel and perplexed as to why this was longlisted. 

The Palm House is the story of two friends, Laura Miller and Edmund Putnam. The pair met at a local London pub in the evenings and talk about their workplaces. Putnam has been working at a magazine, Sequence, for decades. A new editor has arrived with terrible ideas, causing chaos for the staff and disappointing subscribers. Putnam's father has recently died, and it appears to Laura that Putnam is falling into depression. 

Meanwhile Laura, the narrator, is struggling too. Her mother is oddly distant, and Laura is fumbling through life. Laura reminisces about a holiday with her mother, the men she has been involved with (including a devastating encounter when she was a teenager) and her inability to form strong relationships. 

I was disappointed in this novel. So much so that I almost wrote a one word review: 'Meh'. The characters were uninteresting, there was zero plot, and much of the 'keen observation' declared as Riley's trademark seemed pretentious.  There were some passages of dialogue and some scenes I found enjoyable (particularly those with Laura's mother), but not enough to make an impression. Perhaps there is more depth to be found here and I have completely missed Riley's point, but for me this is a beige novel, instantly forgettable.