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Service: A Novel
A “powerful and compelling” novel about power, consent, and complicity in our #MeToo era — for fans of Sweetbitter and I Have Some Questions for You (Joseph O’Connor, author of My Father’s House)
Tensions are at an all-time high in an upscale Dublin restaurant as its employees grapple with the fallout from a shocking scandal involving its head chef
The waitress, the chef, and the chef’s wife may all lovingly describe the food, but they agree on little else as their 3 voices reveal a story of power and complicity, and the courage it takes to face the truth.
When Hannah learns that famed chef Daniel Costello is facing accusations of sexual assault, she's thrown back to the summer she spent waitressing at his high-end Dublin restaurant when she was a young college student— the plush splendour of the dining rooms, the wild parties after service, the sizzling tension of the kitchens. But Hannah also remembers how the attention from Daniel soon morphed from kindness into something darker.
Now the restaurant is shuttered and Daniel tries to understand how his life is now completely out of his control. His wife Julie is hiding from paparazzi, trying to come to terms with the legal case while suddenly questioning her life and marriage as she attempts to protect her two sons.
Surrounded by the wreckage of the past, Daniel, Julie, and Hannah must reconsider what happened at the restaurant.
Beautifully written and cleverly told in 3 voices, this scorching novel explores uncomfortable truths about our changing social norms with nuance and complexity.
Tensions are at an all-time high in an upscale Dublin restaurant as its employees grapple with the fallout from a shocking scandal involving its head chef
The waitress, the chef, and the chef’s wife may all lovingly describe the food, but they agree on little else as their 3 voices reveal a story of power and complicity, and the courage it takes to face the truth.
When Hannah learns that famed chef Daniel Costello is facing accusations of sexual assault, she's thrown back to the summer she spent waitressing at his high-end Dublin restaurant when she was a young college student— the plush splendour of the dining rooms, the wild parties after service, the sizzling tension of the kitchens. But Hannah also remembers how the attention from Daniel soon morphed from kindness into something darker.
Now the restaurant is shuttered and Daniel tries to understand how his life is now completely out of his control. His wife Julie is hiding from paparazzi, trying to come to terms with the legal case while suddenly questioning her life and marriage as she attempts to protect her two sons.
Surrounded by the wreckage of the past, Daniel, Julie, and Hannah must reconsider what happened at the restaurant.
Beautifully written and cleverly told in 3 voices, this scorching novel explores uncomfortable truths about our changing social norms with nuance and complexity.
259 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 4, 2023
198 people are currently reading
5288 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Gilmartin
7 books54 followersSARAH GILMARTIN is a critic who reviews fiction for the Irish Times. She is co-editor of the anthology Stinging Fly Stories and has an MFA from University College Dublin. She won Best Playwright at the inaugural Short+Sweet Dublin festival. Her short stories have been published in The Dublin Review, New Irish Writing and shortlisted for the RTÉ Francis MacManus Short Story Award. Her story ‘The Wife’ won the 2020 Máirtín Crawford Award at Belfast Book Festival.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 456 reviews
May 4, 2023
In a Nutshell: A literary fiction focussing on three characters, one of whom has just been accused of rape. Infuriating and depressing in many ways, especially if you are a woman. A thought-provoking read for lit-fic lovers.
Story Synopsis:
Bookish Yays:
✔ Nicely developed characters, not surprising for a well-written literary fiction work. Hannah and Julie were so different from each other, and yet so similar in many ways. Both their arcs touched me.
✔ Is it a yay or a nay when you want to rip open the fourth wall and bash up one of the characters? Daniel’s pov left me jittery and infuriated at the same time. I suppose it is a yay as emotional involvement by the reader is a sign of realistically sketched characters.
✔ The use of Dublin city and its socio-economic-cultural aspects in the plot.
(Irish lit-fic novelists seem to be in a whole other league!)
✔ The focus on systemic sexual abuse, when misogyny and chauvinism are written away as necessary evils of urban living rather than as problems to be eliminated.
✔ The glimpse of what goes into the daily running of a restaurant. If you ever thought waitressing is an easy task, here’s the book to set your assumption right.
✔ The regularly interspersed statements in Daniel’s pov asking “What is a chef?” and providing a one-liner reply to the same. Loved every single one of these!
✔ The ending. Not too optimistic nor depressing. But just at the right point of hope.
✔ The author’s note at the end: brief yet impactful.
Bookish Nays:
❌ The story takes a while to get going. It’s too slow even for a literary work, and the constant back-and-forth between timelines and characters doesn’t help. I would have been okay with this for some other topic, but when I know a book is dealing with sexual assault, the woman in me wants to get to the crux of the matter because it is a topic that leaves me fretful.
❌ I would have liked more details about the impact of the accusation on Daniel’s sons. While there were details, the narrative from Julie’s side focusses more on her own emotions than on her children’s.
All in all, this novel created in me tremendous emotional upheaval. It wasn’t easy reading, partly because I wasn’t in the right headspace for this topic. Nevertheless, it still kept me involved all the way. It is a powerful work, and for the right reader (i.e. one who appreciates character-driven novels), it will create an impact that will last long after the last page.
4.25 stars.
My thanks to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for the DRC of “Service”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
Content warning: Misogyny, infidelity, sexual assault, physical assault.
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
Story Synopsis:
When Hannah hears that her ex-boss, Chef Daniel Costello is facing rape charges, she goes down memory lane, to the summer she spent waitressing in Daniel’s hotel, about a decade ago.
Daniel, meanwhile, can’t believe that his personal and professional successes are now under a dark cloud just because of some allegation from the long-forgotten past.
Julie, Daniel’s wife, isn’t sure how to handle her husband’s new identity and the attention of the press. As she watches their private lives become public, and her two teenaged sons deal with the aftermath of the slander, Julie wonders if she could have done something differently.
The story comes to us in the first person perspective of these three characters. Hannah’s pov is majorly set in the past, while Daniel’s and Julie’s stories are set mostly in the present.
Bookish Yays:
✔ Nicely developed characters, not surprising for a well-written literary fiction work. Hannah and Julie were so different from each other, and yet so similar in many ways. Both their arcs touched me.
✔ Is it a yay or a nay when you want to rip open the fourth wall and bash up one of the characters? Daniel’s pov left me jittery and infuriated at the same time. I suppose it is a yay as emotional involvement by the reader is a sign of realistically sketched characters.
✔ The use of Dublin city and its socio-economic-cultural aspects in the plot.
(Irish lit-fic novelists seem to be in a whole other league!)
✔ The focus on systemic sexual abuse, when misogyny and chauvinism are written away as necessary evils of urban living rather than as problems to be eliminated.
✔ The glimpse of what goes into the daily running of a restaurant. If you ever thought waitressing is an easy task, here’s the book to set your assumption right.
✔ The regularly interspersed statements in Daniel’s pov asking “What is a chef?” and providing a one-liner reply to the same. Loved every single one of these!
✔ The ending. Not too optimistic nor depressing. But just at the right point of hope.
✔ The author’s note at the end: brief yet impactful.
Bookish Nays:
❌ The story takes a while to get going. It’s too slow even for a literary work, and the constant back-and-forth between timelines and characters doesn’t help. I would have been okay with this for some other topic, but when I know a book is dealing with sexual assault, the woman in me wants to get to the crux of the matter because it is a topic that leaves me fretful.
❌ I would have liked more details about the impact of the accusation on Daniel’s sons. While there were details, the narrative from Julie’s side focusses more on her own emotions than on her children’s.
All in all, this novel created in me tremendous emotional upheaval. It wasn’t easy reading, partly because I wasn’t in the right headspace for this topic. Nevertheless, it still kept me involved all the way. It is a powerful work, and for the right reader (i.e. one who appreciates character-driven novels), it will create an impact that will last long after the last page.
4.25 stars.
My thanks to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for the DRC of “Service”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
Content warning: Misogyny, infidelity, sexual assault, physical assault.
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
Want to read
January 21, 2025"the children yearn for the mines" except it's women and irish lit fic
February 28, 2023
4.5
A sexual assault case against chef Daniel Costello is brought before the court in Dublin. Three versions but who is telling the truth? The waitress back in the day at his restaurant is Hannah, she tells her side. Daniel gives us his perspective as the allegations and the subsequent rumour mill force him to close the successful restaurant. He is in disbelief, he has worked so hard, he runs a ‘tight ship’, wins award after award but is it all to collapse like a house of cards? Finally, there’s Julia, the wife of twenty two years and who watches the paparazzi behind her curtains and ruminates how Daniels actions have ruined the lives of the family and she just wants it all to go away. Will she hold her peace as she always does, be loyal and stand by her man especially in the court room? She looks back on their life together and wonders about it all. Three people tell the story as they see it, each forced to reevaluate their version of the truth.
Sarah Gilman is a very talented writer as her latest character driven study clearly demonstrates and choosing to give three different versions of the rape accusations makes for fascinating and compelling reading. Through Hannah you are captivated by the intensity and chaos of the restaurant, the excitement of it but also running the gauntlet of the misogyny of some customers. Initially she’s buzzing with working in such a high end restaurant but then that changes and the atmosphere becomes more toxic. We also have her perception of Daniel, a powerful, egotistical and driven chef, a temperamental artist but also her growing insidious fear. Daniel's perspective is not unnaturally very different but you can read between the lines and you can see that behaviour post service is at best a bit weird and at worst something entitled. Julia is very contained, she has to be for the sake of her sons. Through her you see the impact on a relationship and the family with some interesting dynamics at play. You realise she is literally almost bursting with suppressed emotion. Each of the perspectives is equally strong, the characterisation is perceptive and incisive and it arrives at a very good conclusion.
Overall, a well written, pertinent and relevant novel.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Pushkin Press, ONE for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
A sexual assault case against chef Daniel Costello is brought before the court in Dublin. Three versions but who is telling the truth? The waitress back in the day at his restaurant is Hannah, she tells her side. Daniel gives us his perspective as the allegations and the subsequent rumour mill force him to close the successful restaurant. He is in disbelief, he has worked so hard, he runs a ‘tight ship’, wins award after award but is it all to collapse like a house of cards? Finally, there’s Julia, the wife of twenty two years and who watches the paparazzi behind her curtains and ruminates how Daniels actions have ruined the lives of the family and she just wants it all to go away. Will she hold her peace as she always does, be loyal and stand by her man especially in the court room? She looks back on their life together and wonders about it all. Three people tell the story as they see it, each forced to reevaluate their version of the truth.
Sarah Gilman is a very talented writer as her latest character driven study clearly demonstrates and choosing to give three different versions of the rape accusations makes for fascinating and compelling reading. Through Hannah you are captivated by the intensity and chaos of the restaurant, the excitement of it but also running the gauntlet of the misogyny of some customers. Initially she’s buzzing with working in such a high end restaurant but then that changes and the atmosphere becomes more toxic. We also have her perception of Daniel, a powerful, egotistical and driven chef, a temperamental artist but also her growing insidious fear. Daniel's perspective is not unnaturally very different but you can read between the lines and you can see that behaviour post service is at best a bit weird and at worst something entitled. Julia is very contained, she has to be for the sake of her sons. Through her you see the impact on a relationship and the family with some interesting dynamics at play. You realise she is literally almost bursting with suppressed emotion. Each of the perspectives is equally strong, the characterisation is perceptive and incisive and it arrives at a very good conclusion.
Overall, a well written, pertinent and relevant novel.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Pushkin Press, ONE for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
February 28, 2023
Wow. Honestly, I'm in between lost for words and wanting to tell you the whole plot. I want to tell how wonderful the writing is, how the plot develops without judgment, without sansationalising. This book is superb. It should definitely win awards.
The story is simple: Daniel Costello is a chef at the top of his game until a year old charge of sexual assault is laid at his door from Tracey, a waitress whose story is one of harassment, sexual abuse and physical intimidation.
Three voices narrate this story - Daniel whose confusion and feelings of persecution are clear on every page. Julie, his wife, who tries to see past the allegations and remember the man she married. And Hannah, another waitress who had walked out of the restaurant without a reason.
I get lost in how beautifully this horrifying tale is told. Sarah Gilmartin's Dinner Party was good but this is another level; for me, this was perfect. I had to force myself to stop reading too fast because it grabs you and holds you like so few novels do these days. She manages to tell a divisive story without preaching, without taking anyone's side.
I've got to stop evangelising but this is a novel you really must read. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
The story is simple: Daniel Costello is a chef at the top of his game until a year old charge of sexual assault is laid at his door from Tracey, a waitress whose story is one of harassment, sexual abuse and physical intimidation.
Three voices narrate this story - Daniel whose confusion and feelings of persecution are clear on every page. Julie, his wife, who tries to see past the allegations and remember the man she married. And Hannah, another waitress who had walked out of the restaurant without a reason.
I get lost in how beautifully this horrifying tale is told. Sarah Gilmartin's Dinner Party was good but this is another level; for me, this was perfect. I had to force myself to stop reading too fast because it grabs you and holds you like so few novels do these days. She manages to tell a divisive story without preaching, without taking anyone's side.
I've got to stop evangelising but this is a novel you really must read. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
December 12, 2024
When the #MeToo Movement went viral, a number of renowned chefs were taken down. It was hardly surprising to find rampant sexual harassment in the restaurant industry. Cooking network shows boasted alpha personalities with over-inflated egos, people with explosive tempers unafraid to publicly berate their staff.
“Service” tells the story of Hannah, a woman whose young life has been traumatized by a sexual assault suffered when she was working at one of Dublin’s most exciting and prominent restaurants. A co-worker of hers has brought up rape charges against the restaurant’s owner, Daniel, a superstar chef. Understandably, Hannah hesitates in coming forward, fearful of the ugly abuse a victim like herself will draw.
The voices of Daniel and his wife, Julie, are also heard. Daniel tells himself he has been persecuted… “Unhappy b*****s, money-hungry, MeToo bandwagon…Your success made you a target. They’d been planning it for months, apparently, this secret coven you employed.”
In a narrative such as this we always scrutinize the wife’s reaction. Initially, she is repelled by Daniel, later to fall into denial and the desire to believe in the man she fell in love with. “There are things about her husband she loves, and others that have frustrated her; she is genuinely thrown by recent events. “How did I not know that my husband was involved with other women? And beneath this, the question that no one has asked me yet: How did I not know my husband was a predator?”
Author Sarah Gilmartin’s real accomplishment is in her portrayal of Daniel. He is a revolting human being who has irrevocably harmed innocent lives. We are not going to sympathize with him or overemphasize any redeeming qualities. What we do see is his internal justifications, his reasons for believing he is blameless… maybe even a martyr. When an actor takes on the role of a despicable character he always needs to see where that personality is coming from– and the author has found that strain here.
Thank you to Pushkin Press and Edelweiss for providing a reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #Service #PushkinPress
“Service” tells the story of Hannah, a woman whose young life has been traumatized by a sexual assault suffered when she was working at one of Dublin’s most exciting and prominent restaurants. A co-worker of hers has brought up rape charges against the restaurant’s owner, Daniel, a superstar chef. Understandably, Hannah hesitates in coming forward, fearful of the ugly abuse a victim like herself will draw.
The voices of Daniel and his wife, Julie, are also heard. Daniel tells himself he has been persecuted… “Unhappy b*****s, money-hungry, MeToo bandwagon…Your success made you a target. They’d been planning it for months, apparently, this secret coven you employed.”
In a narrative such as this we always scrutinize the wife’s reaction. Initially, she is repelled by Daniel, later to fall into denial and the desire to believe in the man she fell in love with. “There are things about her husband she loves, and others that have frustrated her; she is genuinely thrown by recent events. “How did I not know that my husband was involved with other women? And beneath this, the question that no one has asked me yet: How did I not know my husband was a predator?”
Author Sarah Gilmartin’s real accomplishment is in her portrayal of Daniel. He is a revolting human being who has irrevocably harmed innocent lives. We are not going to sympathize with him or overemphasize any redeeming qualities. What we do see is his internal justifications, his reasons for believing he is blameless… maybe even a martyr. When an actor takes on the role of a despicable character he always needs to see where that personality is coming from– and the author has found that strain here.
Thank you to Pushkin Press and Edelweiss for providing a reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #Service #PushkinPress
October 15, 2023
A celebrity chef is accused of sexual assault, and three narrators observe the fallout: Daniel, the chef himself; Julie, his wife; and Hannah, a young woman who spent a summer working in Daniel’s exclusive Dublin restaurant. Daniel is never sympathetic, but this arguably makes the book’s core question all the more urgent: after all, a man may be a raging misogynist without being guilty of rape (though the former makes it much easier for us to believe the latter). The real MVP of the book is Julie, in whose narrative Gilmartin skilfully combines protectiveness and rage. Stretching the story across three perspectives inevitably means that some of the characters are spread a bit thin – with Hannah, there’s a powerful sense of her experience in the restaurant; less of who she is beyond that – but the writing is strong enough to override this. Gilmartin writes movingly about the impact of Hannah’s encounter(s) with Daniel and while the conclusion may, ultimately, be fairly clear-cut, these characters’ actions and choices are messy and real, and always have the ring of truth.
April 26, 2024
I love to read about the restaurant industry and its inner workings. It's fascinating to me how all the moving parts work, from the wait staff, bartenders, reservation takers, hostesses, chefs, etc. This work of fiction takes place in the early 2000s in Dublin, Ireland. The location is a high end restaurant owned and run by the head chef - the charismatic Daniel Costello. He's married to Julie and has two sons, Kevin and Oscar. Their lives are upended when Daniel's charged with rape and goes on trial. His main accuser is one of his former waitresses, but there's another waitress who feels unable to participate in the prosecution. The book is narrated by Daniel, wife Julie, and Hannah- one of the waitresses. The writing is excellent. The author really captured the characters and the dialogue is spot on. The book clocks in at a very manageable 256 pages, yet the reading experience was so fulsome. The story had me in the palm of its hand, with the pendulum swinging back and forth as to Daniel's guilt or innocence. There were so many thought-provoking aspects to this story. One of the points that stuck with me was how such a violation can upend a woman's life, making her feel guilty when she's done nothing wrong, and also potentially derailing a good trajectory in life. This was a very interesting and well-written book.
Thank you to the publisher Pushkin Press for providing an advance reader copy via Edelweiss.
Thank you to the publisher Pushkin Press for providing an advance reader copy via Edelweiss.
May 5, 2023
The comparison with Sweetbitter, one of my favourite debuts of the past decade, drew me to Service, and it’s an apt one. Irish writer Sarah Gilmartin’s second novel is a before-and-after set partly in the stressful atmosphere of a fine dining restaurant in Dublin. Head chef Daniel Costello worked his way up from an inner-city childhood and teenage carvery-pub job to a two-Michelin-starred establishment known as T. But then came a fall: accusations of sexual assault from several female former employees led to the restaurant’s temporary closure and a high-profile court trial. Daniel maintains his innocence. His lawyer plans to cast shade on the lead waitress’ reputation, and question her failure to come forward until one year after the alleged rape.
Three alternating first-person narrators fill in the background of the macho restaurant world and the Costellos’ marriage. First is Hannah Blake, a former waitress who is not involved in the current lawsuit but has her own stories to tell about Daniel, who treated her as a protégée during the brief time she worked at T while she was a university student. “I’ve never felt as alive as I did that summer,” she writes; it was thrilling for a girl from Tipperary to be at the heart of Dublin’s culinary life and to have a world-leading chef believe her palate was worth training. We also hear from Daniel himself, and then his wife Julie, who begrudgingly supports Daniel but is furious with him for the negative attention the trial has brought her and their two sons. Some family members and neighbours have started avoiding them.
Gilmartin invites the reader to have sympathy for all the protagonists, even when it gets complicated. There was a point about three-quarters of the way through when I had to rethink who I felt sorry for and why. I would have liked a few more restaurant scenes to balance out the aftermath, but that is a minor quibble. This is a solid Me Too novel with pacey, engaging writing and well-rounded characters. It’s made me eager to go back and catch up on the author’s debut, Dinner Party: A Tragedy.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
Three alternating first-person narrators fill in the background of the macho restaurant world and the Costellos’ marriage. First is Hannah Blake, a former waitress who is not involved in the current lawsuit but has her own stories to tell about Daniel, who treated her as a protégée during the brief time she worked at T while she was a university student. “I’ve never felt as alive as I did that summer,” she writes; it was thrilling for a girl from Tipperary to be at the heart of Dublin’s culinary life and to have a world-leading chef believe her palate was worth training. We also hear from Daniel himself, and then his wife Julie, who begrudgingly supports Daniel but is furious with him for the negative attention the trial has brought her and their two sons. Some family members and neighbours have started avoiding them.
Gilmartin invites the reader to have sympathy for all the protagonists, even when it gets complicated. There was a point about three-quarters of the way through when I had to rethink who I felt sorry for and why. I would have liked a few more restaurant scenes to balance out the aftermath, but that is a minor quibble. This is a solid Me Too novel with pacey, engaging writing and well-rounded characters. It’s made me eager to go back and catch up on the author’s debut, Dinner Party: A Tragedy.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
November 3, 2024
three people share their side of the story when the renowned chef of a high-end dublin restaurant is accused of sexual assault: daniel, the chef, his wife julie, and hannah, a former waitress at the restaurant. through each perspective, the present day trial and the secrets of the past are unfolded.
gilmartin does a great job at subverting the typical archetypes of ‘monster’ and ‘victim’, crafting these characters and their lives with such verisimilitude that as a reader, you are forced to go back and forth on your idea of the truth. it’s a novel about the toxicity of the service industry, complicity in the perpetuation of rape culture, the institutional barriers victims are faced with in the legal system when seeking justice, but also about taking back your power and voice, and gaining the courage to speak out.
gilmartin does a great job at subverting the typical archetypes of ‘monster’ and ‘victim’, crafting these characters and their lives with such verisimilitude that as a reader, you are forced to go back and forth on your idea of the truth. it’s a novel about the toxicity of the service industry, complicity in the perpetuation of rape culture, the institutional barriers victims are faced with in the legal system when seeking justice, but also about taking back your power and voice, and gaining the courage to speak out.
July 6, 2024
The service industry, which seems to be synonymous with drinking and drug activity—at least when I was in it and certainly during the time of this narrative, 2007—is an environment ripe for predators and sexual harassment.
“It ranged from harmless to challenging to aggression, if you tried, in an almost courteous manner that always has one eye on the tip, to rebuff their advances.”
Once upon a time, in my teens, working as a waitress, I set a bowl of cheese dip down at a man’s table. He was a round Southern man, 59—verified by the date of birth on his drivers license—dining with a man of similar girth. When I placed the dip down he turned his big neck and lifted his eyes, red from too much whiskey, up at me to say, “This queso sure makes me horny”. He and his friend laughed. Which leads us perfectly in to this novel.
Service begins with our main character, Hannah, reflecting back on her experience working at “T”, a high-end restaurant in the heart of Dublin—a demanding but exhilarating opportunity. Enter head chef, Daniel. He’s loud and in charge of his kitchen but he’s also charming and larger than life, at least to the carefully hand-selected waitresses.
Ten years later, Daniel is staring down the court room facing a sexual assault charge. His wife Julie is fed up and hiding away from the paparazzi while Hannah is wrestling with her past at the restaurant.
The characters here are realistic and expertly crafted. Even with the accusations against Daniel—or perhaps because of it—I was very much interested in the sections of the book that were written from his point of view. And yes, they did make me scoff and roll my eyes and seethe as expected.
This book made me feel anxious and restless; it’s nuanced and emotionally messy, and still, I’m glad that I read it. Gilmartin sensitively but adequately handles this topic with her sharp prose, vivid atmosphere, and attention to detail.
Simply put, I couldn’t resist this novel. It had me from the first page.
“It ranged from harmless to challenging to aggression, if you tried, in an almost courteous manner that always has one eye on the tip, to rebuff their advances.”
Once upon a time, in my teens, working as a waitress, I set a bowl of cheese dip down at a man’s table. He was a round Southern man, 59—verified by the date of birth on his drivers license—dining with a man of similar girth. When I placed the dip down he turned his big neck and lifted his eyes, red from too much whiskey, up at me to say, “This queso sure makes me horny”. He and his friend laughed. Which leads us perfectly in to this novel.
Service begins with our main character, Hannah, reflecting back on her experience working at “T”, a high-end restaurant in the heart of Dublin—a demanding but exhilarating opportunity. Enter head chef, Daniel. He’s loud and in charge of his kitchen but he’s also charming and larger than life, at least to the carefully hand-selected waitresses.
Ten years later, Daniel is staring down the court room facing a sexual assault charge. His wife Julie is fed up and hiding away from the paparazzi while Hannah is wrestling with her past at the restaurant.
The characters here are realistic and expertly crafted. Even with the accusations against Daniel—or perhaps because of it—I was very much interested in the sections of the book that were written from his point of view. And yes, they did make me scoff and roll my eyes and seethe as expected.
This book made me feel anxious and restless; it’s nuanced and emotionally messy, and still, I’m glad that I read it. Gilmartin sensitively but adequately handles this topic with her sharp prose, vivid atmosphere, and attention to detail.
Simply put, I couldn’t resist this novel. It had me from the first page.
July 21, 2023
I have always believed that the role of literature is to make a reader question themselves or make them feel uncomfortable. Sarah Gilman’s Service does this, I can guarantee that this novel will move the reader in one way or another.
Being someone who likes food, I bought Service due to the fact that the setting is a restaurant. Superficially I thought it would be a satirical look at the catering business, in a way it is that but it’s definitely not a satire but a harsh criticism.
Hannah is a victim of sexual abuse. This stems from the time when she was a waiter at high end restaurant T, with it’s celebrity chef Daniel Costello. At first she thinks things are innocent but then slowly she finds out that Daniel and his male staff are not what they seem, everything culminating in a nasty incident.
Service switches between three voices. One his Hannah, the other is Daniel who is recalling a court case involving sexual abuse with his waitresses and the third voice is Daniel’s wife Julie, who is hoping that her husband is innocent.
Through these narrators we get a picture of the psychological affects of abuse, what goes in the mind of an abuser and what it is like to live with one. At the same time Sarah Gilmartin is showing us what happens behind the scenes of the restaurant industry and a look at how court cases are dealt with.
Needless to say that this is a dark, gritty book with a couple of passages which make for uncomfortable reading BUT it is an eye opener and does provide a lot to think about. Earlier this year I read Vista Chinesa , a book about sexual abuse which provokes the reader, I had that same feeling with Service. This is a book that can provide a good picture at the psychological effects of acts like these. I was struck by Service and I hope others, especially victims will read it as well.
Being someone who likes food, I bought Service due to the fact that the setting is a restaurant. Superficially I thought it would be a satirical look at the catering business, in a way it is that but it’s definitely not a satire but a harsh criticism.
Hannah is a victim of sexual abuse. This stems from the time when she was a waiter at high end restaurant T, with it’s celebrity chef Daniel Costello. At first she thinks things are innocent but then slowly she finds out that Daniel and his male staff are not what they seem, everything culminating in a nasty incident.
Service switches between three voices. One his Hannah, the other is Daniel who is recalling a court case involving sexual abuse with his waitresses and the third voice is Daniel’s wife Julie, who is hoping that her husband is innocent.
Through these narrators we get a picture of the psychological affects of abuse, what goes in the mind of an abuser and what it is like to live with one. At the same time Sarah Gilmartin is showing us what happens behind the scenes of the restaurant industry and a look at how court cases are dealt with.
Needless to say that this is a dark, gritty book with a couple of passages which make for uncomfortable reading BUT it is an eye opener and does provide a lot to think about. Earlier this year I read Vista Chinesa , a book about sexual abuse which provokes the reader, I had that same feeling with Service. This is a book that can provide a good picture at the psychological effects of acts like these. I was struck by Service and I hope others, especially victims will read it as well.
May 19, 2023
This was very good. Great writing and it shows well how complicated #metoo is. In our day and age it may sometimes seem as if it is a matter of opinion - which is excellently put forward here by Gilmartin through the three different perspectives in the book - but of course it’s not. It is extremely hard though, to get to the truth. Who in the end is telling the truth here in ‘Service’? And how to prove the truth? Gilmartin is nuanced and slowly lets the reader discover it all.
Thank you very much Pushkin Press and Netgalley for the ARC.
Thank you very much Pushkin Press and Netgalley for the ARC.
April 23, 2023
On paper this sounds like something I'd like having found a book set in a similar setting - Sweetbitter - to be memorable and usually finding myself drawn to books with a #MeToo focus, but I found myself only really interested in one of the three voices - that of the waitress Hannah - which meant the other sections which followed chef Daniel and then that of his wife, Julie, felt like a slog. Perhaps a case of me picking up the novel at a bad time.
Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin for the advance copy, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin for the advance copy, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.
September 13, 2024
4.5⭐️
a harrowing read
a harrowing read
January 27, 2025
2/5
Tarsi ant popieriaus viskas labai man į temą – mylima Airija, metoo tema, sudėtingos kaltės, pasitikėjimo, atleidimo problemos. Ir nežinau, kas nesuderėjo tarp manęs ir šios knygos, iš kurios tiek daug tikėjausi, bet galiausiai supratau, kad nelabai man ji rūpi. Ir jei ne audio versija, kurios klausiausi vis kažką darydama, popierinės tikriausiai nebūčiau pabaigusi. O jei ne labai stipri pabaiga, tai išvis būčiau susinervinusi. Nes ši knyga... drungna. Tokioms sunkiausia atleisti. Kai visi kažkokie beveidžiai, plokšti ir jokie, tokie tarsi pagal vadovėlį, pagal kažkokią formulę, kuri gal kokiame rašymo kurse ir pažadėta, kad veiks, bet nebūtinai rašant tikrą knygą suveikia. Ir kaip per aplink einama iki esmės, kaip viskas girdėta, kaip suprantama ir pekramtoma skaitytojui – va, šitaip turi jaustis ir šitai jausti, ar aišku?
Skaitant knygas apie tokias sudėtingas temas, kuriose tiek skaitytojas, tiek veikėjai turi pasirinkti puses, kuriose vis dvejoja kuri būti teisingesnė (nebūtinai teisingiausia), emocijų užtaisas turi būti užtikrintas. O čia, rodos, pati autorė nenusprendžia, ką norėjosi parašyti – gal labai rimtą romaną, o gal truputį pramoginį, o gal labai girdėtą, o gal truputį teisinį, o gal... Todėl už pabaigą papildomas pliusas, bet jokiam veikėjui nieko nepajaučiau, nei į vieną neįsijaučiau ir nei vienu nepatikėjau. Deja.
Tarsi ant popieriaus viskas labai man į temą – mylima Airija, metoo tema, sudėtingos kaltės, pasitikėjimo, atleidimo problemos. Ir nežinau, kas nesuderėjo tarp manęs ir šios knygos, iš kurios tiek daug tikėjausi, bet galiausiai supratau, kad nelabai man ji rūpi. Ir jei ne audio versija, kurios klausiausi vis kažką darydama, popierinės tikriausiai nebūčiau pabaigusi. O jei ne labai stipri pabaiga, tai išvis būčiau susinervinusi. Nes ši knyga... drungna. Tokioms sunkiausia atleisti. Kai visi kažkokie beveidžiai, plokšti ir jokie, tokie tarsi pagal vadovėlį, pagal kažkokią formulę, kuri gal kokiame rašymo kurse ir pažadėta, kad veiks, bet nebūtinai rašant tikrą knygą suveikia. Ir kaip per aplink einama iki esmės, kaip viskas girdėta, kaip suprantama ir pekramtoma skaitytojui – va, šitaip turi jaustis ir šitai jausti, ar aišku?
Skaitant knygas apie tokias sudėtingas temas, kuriose tiek skaitytojas, tiek veikėjai turi pasirinkti puses, kuriose vis dvejoja kuri būti teisingesnė (nebūtinai teisingiausia), emocijų užtaisas turi būti užtikrintas. O čia, rodos, pati autorė nenusprendžia, ką norėjosi parašyti – gal labai rimtą romaną, o gal truputį pramoginį, o gal labai girdėtą, o gal truputį teisinį, o gal... Todėl už pabaigą papildomas pliusas, bet jokiam veikėjui nieko nepajaučiau, nei į vieną neįsijaučiau ir nei vienu nepatikėjau. Deja.
August 27, 2024
From the very first chapter—its description of the chaotic kitchen, the macho chefs who style themselves as artists, the sleek dim-lit glamor of the dining room—I was hooked by this novel. Gilmartin's Service is a masterfully constructed MeToo story: told from three different perspectives, it follows Daniel, the head chef of a Michelin-star restaurant in Dublin, who has been accused of rape and is about to be put on trial. First, we see Daniel through the eyes of Hannah, a former employee who is years later slowly recalling the painful, repressed memories of her brief time there; then, we see Daniel's side, his clueless protestations of innocence and his blinkered ignorance of his own chauvinism; and, finally, we hear his wife, Julie, and her shellshocked uncertainty, her resentment, her suspicion, her reluctant willingness to believe him but also never to trust him.
What makes this novel so engrossing is how Daniel truly believes his own innocence. In many ways, Daniel is a sympathetic figure: the child of a single-parent home who started working in a pub at age 16 and pushed himself tirelessly to become a renowned chef; he is a flawed, demanding and volatile boss but also a loving father, a man who worked till midnight and still took care of his kids. But, as we follow his story and hear his internal monologue, we also see his cruelty, his self-obsession and his obliviousness. He is constantly evaluating women's appearances, sneering at women's wrinkles, wondering what young women will grow up into, hiring the most attractive women as his servers; he is so convinced of his own handsome appeal and culinary genius that he cannot imagine any woman not desiring him; in perhaps his most deranged moment of egotistical hubris, lying next to his wife in bed, he thinks to himself, "God made woman to comfort man". In his kitchen, he is the chef and the women are the servers, and this dynamic pervades his whole view of the world. He thinks he loves women but what he really loves is their subservience. He fires one of his employees for sexual assault but he cannot see how manipulative and coercive his own actions are. In his view, he promoted women, started their careers, and they had all come to him for sex. The whole MeToo movement, for him, is a tabloid fad.
This is a really successful novel that manages both to show the victims' side and also to probe the mental blindspots and delusions of the accused. It reminded me a lot of the film Tár, a story similarly of a monomaniacal workaholic who had catapulted herself from her humble origins on Staten Island to become the eminent conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, but whose passion and drive had transformed her into monstrous sociopath. I strongly recommend this novel.
What makes this novel so engrossing is how Daniel truly believes his own innocence. In many ways, Daniel is a sympathetic figure: the child of a single-parent home who started working in a pub at age 16 and pushed himself tirelessly to become a renowned chef; he is a flawed, demanding and volatile boss but also a loving father, a man who worked till midnight and still took care of his kids. But, as we follow his story and hear his internal monologue, we also see his cruelty, his self-obsession and his obliviousness. He is constantly evaluating women's appearances, sneering at women's wrinkles, wondering what young women will grow up into, hiring the most attractive women as his servers; he is so convinced of his own handsome appeal and culinary genius that he cannot imagine any woman not desiring him; in perhaps his most deranged moment of egotistical hubris, lying next to his wife in bed, he thinks to himself, "God made woman to comfort man". In his kitchen, he is the chef and the women are the servers, and this dynamic pervades his whole view of the world. He thinks he loves women but what he really loves is their subservience. He fires one of his employees for sexual assault but he cannot see how manipulative and coercive his own actions are. In his view, he promoted women, started their careers, and they had all come to him for sex. The whole MeToo movement, for him, is a tabloid fad.
This is a really successful novel that manages both to show the victims' side and also to probe the mental blindspots and delusions of the accused. It reminded me a lot of the film Tár, a story similarly of a monomaniacal workaholic who had catapulted herself from her humble origins on Staten Island to become the eminent conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, but whose passion and drive had transformed her into monstrous sociopath. I strongly recommend this novel.
January 8, 2024
Service is the second novel from Irish author Sarah Gilmartin. A group of us read Service during the last week of December and it completely threw my “favourite books of 2023” list askew; I absolutely loved it.
In the wake of a sexual assault allegation against famous Dublin chef Daniel Costello, we hear the perspectives of three people. Daniel himself, who of course believes that he is without fault, his wife Julie who is struggling to maintain her role as supportive partner and mother, and Hannah, who worked as a server in Daniel’s restaurant back in its Celtic Tiger heyday and is now recollecting both the extreme highs and lows of that time.
This is such a cleverly written book; getting the viewpoints of these three characters reminds us that we all have different versions of the truth and we all assign blame and victimhood statuses according to our own beliefs and values, often even when the evidence is staring us in the face.
Sometimes with books like this you’ll prefer reading a particular character’s thoughts more than another but I found all three completely engrossing; the writing flows so well and it’s such a painfully plausible story that it almost felt like I was reading real people’s accounts.
Because of that, it’s often an infuriating read; the open misogyny the female characters experience is unfortunately all too realistic. Several members of our reading group shared similar memories of working in restaurants and hotels when we were younger. It’s a deeply relatable story and that definitely makes it hard to read at times, but equally, impossible to put down.
I honestly can’t recommend this book enough; I’ll be putting a copy into the hands of everyone I meet for the foreseeable future and look forward to whatever Gilmartin writes next.
In the wake of a sexual assault allegation against famous Dublin chef Daniel Costello, we hear the perspectives of three people. Daniel himself, who of course believes that he is without fault, his wife Julie who is struggling to maintain her role as supportive partner and mother, and Hannah, who worked as a server in Daniel’s restaurant back in its Celtic Tiger heyday and is now recollecting both the extreme highs and lows of that time.
This is such a cleverly written book; getting the viewpoints of these three characters reminds us that we all have different versions of the truth and we all assign blame and victimhood statuses according to our own beliefs and values, often even when the evidence is staring us in the face.
Sometimes with books like this you’ll prefer reading a particular character’s thoughts more than another but I found all three completely engrossing; the writing flows so well and it’s such a painfully plausible story that it almost felt like I was reading real people’s accounts.
Because of that, it’s often an infuriating read; the open misogyny the female characters experience is unfortunately all too realistic. Several members of our reading group shared similar memories of working in restaurants and hotels when we were younger. It’s a deeply relatable story and that definitely makes it hard to read at times, but equally, impossible to put down.
I honestly can’t recommend this book enough; I’ll be putting a copy into the hands of everyone I meet for the foreseeable future and look forward to whatever Gilmartin writes next.
October 19, 2023
No major feelings until I got to the author’s note, which bewildered me a bit - she writes that, even though the story is set in Dublin, a criminal trial like this wouldn’t even happen in Ireland because there are so many barriers built into the system for SA victims. Then why not write about that instead? Why set it in Dublin at all if you’re not going to address the truth of the context? I think there’s a missed opportunity here
February 11, 2024
Stunning book - didn't get enough attention in a huge year for Irish fiction last year. Shocking, true-to-life and with a compelling three person POV rotation that drives the narrative all the way through.
March 20, 2025
Irische Literatur ❤️
Zuerst, bevor ich detailliert über die Handlung dieses Buches Bescheid wusste, hat mich das Setting angesprochen. Seit The Bear mögen glaub ich viele Fiktion über die Welt der Gastronomie, ich genauso, bei mir kommt noch hinzu, dass mein Lebenspartner auch Koch ist.
In dieser sehr von egozentrischen Männern dominierten Kultur entspinnt sich eine Art Spannungsroman, erzählt aus drei Perspektiven, über eine Vergewaltigungs-Klage und was ihr voraus geht und danach folgt.
Es ist sehr spannend, aufwühlend, feministisch und fesselnd geschrieben. Meine einzige Kritik ist, dass die Charaktere etwas plakativ daherkommen. Ihre Rollen in dieser Erzählung und dem Dreieck definieren sie so, dass nicht viel Raum für echte Charakteristika bleibt.
Trotzdem lesenswert!!
Zuerst, bevor ich detailliert über die Handlung dieses Buches Bescheid wusste, hat mich das Setting angesprochen. Seit The Bear mögen glaub ich viele Fiktion über die Welt der Gastronomie, ich genauso, bei mir kommt noch hinzu, dass mein Lebenspartner auch Koch ist.
In dieser sehr von egozentrischen Männern dominierten Kultur entspinnt sich eine Art Spannungsroman, erzählt aus drei Perspektiven, über eine Vergewaltigungs-Klage und was ihr voraus geht und danach folgt.
Es ist sehr spannend, aufwühlend, feministisch und fesselnd geschrieben. Meine einzige Kritik ist, dass die Charaktere etwas plakativ daherkommen. Ihre Rollen in dieser Erzählung und dem Dreieck definieren sie so, dass nicht viel Raum für echte Charakteristika bleibt.
Trotzdem lesenswert!!
January 4, 2024
CW: Sexual harassment, sexual assault, misogyny
When Hannah meets up with an old colleague Mel, she learns that their former boss, Head Chef Daniel Costello, has been accused of sexual assault and set to stand trial. The news makes Hannah think about the summer she worked in Daniel's restaurant T, and the hectic work/life/play balance they all managed to walk - plus the tense yet seemingly innocent relationship she formed with Daniel until everything came crashing down.
This book is told through three separate POV's - Hannah's POV is mostly reflecting on the past, on her experiences working in T and her relationships with the other front of house staff as well as those in the kitchen (or on 'the line'). We see Hannah as a 21-year-old learning what it's like to work in a fast paced world and play even harder in Celtic Tiger Ireland with shots after work and the occasional line in the bathroom. I think the tense atmosphere of a professional kitchen and the God-like status a Head Chef commands is described really well in this book. The waitresses aren't always treated the best by customers but tend to earn more because of tips, and we also see how they are often belittled, mocked and handled roughly by male staff but they put up with because they think they have to. There is a lot of misogyny in this book - both blatant and discreet - and I thought Hannah's recollections of a time in T were a really good way of describing the atmosphere as a whole, and also act as a direct contrast to what we're learning from Daniel as well.
"Being a chef is a vocation, not a job."
Daniel's POV for me was one of the most interesting and skilled in the book. Many times reading a book in which we are hearing about SA, it tends to be black and white - the rapist is ugly, rude, mean - you're almost not surprised when he commits an act so ugly but Daniel often appears the opposite. He is a man who worked his way up from nothing, a family man with a lovely wife and two happy kids, he's handsome and successful and as he asks his wife "Do I seem, have I ever seemed, like a man who needs to force a woman to have sex with me?" Of course he has a temper but all chefs do, it's part of working in the industry but as we learn from Daniel, he mentored, he educated, he tried to help the men and women who came through under his charge. I thought the way Sarah Gilmartin created this man on the verge of losing everything really well - he is not remorseful because he has (in his mind) done nothing wrong. He is angry but more than that he is scared not only of losing his livelihood but of losing his family. This man, accused of being a rapist and a harasser, becomes an object of pity in the reader's eyes and I for a while did wonder at the truth behind the claim especially when we learn who the claimant is - and that's another great discussion brought into the book by the author, what makes a perfect victim and how in society's eyes a victim should look and act.
"I am not unused to being looked at, I am unused to being looked at in this way. The difference, I feel now (...) is the difference between winning and losing, life and death."
Julia's POV acts as a bridge between Hannah and Daniel - she has her foot on both sides. We see her angry and embarrassed by Daniel's actions but she wants them not to be true for herself and her family but also she remembers the girls who came through T, and particularly the ones who abruptly left, and she wonders. She also thinks back to her own history with Daniel, and the times she's heard him talk about women in specific ways. Julie is easy to like, she can't be this hero who at once stands against her husband and never believes him because in reality, she loves him, they have built a life together, have children together and she doesn't want to lose that. But at the same time in her heart, she doubts his innocence. I felt for Julie a lot who is the person who no matter what loses everything in a way.
A marriage wears a woman's fingers harder than it does a man's."
This book was really well written and easy to fly through as well, and I loved the tense kitchen/restaurant atmosphere combined with the tension of a court case as well. The narrative around a 'perfect victim' isn't something new but I still enjoyed Sarah Gilmartin's take on it and I loved all the narratives that made up this story and captured it so well.
When Hannah meets up with an old colleague Mel, she learns that their former boss, Head Chef Daniel Costello, has been accused of sexual assault and set to stand trial. The news makes Hannah think about the summer she worked in Daniel's restaurant T, and the hectic work/life/play balance they all managed to walk - plus the tense yet seemingly innocent relationship she formed with Daniel until everything came crashing down.
This book is told through three separate POV's - Hannah's POV is mostly reflecting on the past, on her experiences working in T and her relationships with the other front of house staff as well as those in the kitchen (or on 'the line'). We see Hannah as a 21-year-old learning what it's like to work in a fast paced world and play even harder in Celtic Tiger Ireland with shots after work and the occasional line in the bathroom. I think the tense atmosphere of a professional kitchen and the God-like status a Head Chef commands is described really well in this book. The waitresses aren't always treated the best by customers but tend to earn more because of tips, and we also see how they are often belittled, mocked and handled roughly by male staff but they put up with because they think they have to. There is a lot of misogyny in this book - both blatant and discreet - and I thought Hannah's recollections of a time in T were a really good way of describing the atmosphere as a whole, and also act as a direct contrast to what we're learning from Daniel as well.
"Being a chef is a vocation, not a job."
Daniel's POV for me was one of the most interesting and skilled in the book. Many times reading a book in which we are hearing about SA, it tends to be black and white - the rapist is ugly, rude, mean - you're almost not surprised when he commits an act so ugly but Daniel often appears the opposite. He is a man who worked his way up from nothing, a family man with a lovely wife and two happy kids, he's handsome and successful and as he asks his wife "Do I seem, have I ever seemed, like a man who needs to force a woman to have sex with me?" Of course he has a temper but all chefs do, it's part of working in the industry but as we learn from Daniel, he mentored, he educated, he tried to help the men and women who came through under his charge. I thought the way Sarah Gilmartin created this man on the verge of losing everything really well - he is not remorseful because he has (in his mind) done nothing wrong. He is angry but more than that he is scared not only of losing his livelihood but of losing his family. This man, accused of being a rapist and a harasser, becomes an object of pity in the reader's eyes and I for a while did wonder at the truth behind the claim especially when we learn who the claimant is - and that's another great discussion brought into the book by the author, what makes a perfect victim and how in society's eyes a victim should look and act.
"I am not unused to being looked at, I am unused to being looked at in this way. The difference, I feel now (...) is the difference between winning and losing, life and death."
Julia's POV acts as a bridge between Hannah and Daniel - she has her foot on both sides. We see her angry and embarrassed by Daniel's actions but she wants them not to be true for herself and her family but also she remembers the girls who came through T, and particularly the ones who abruptly left, and she wonders. She also thinks back to her own history with Daniel, and the times she's heard him talk about women in specific ways. Julie is easy to like, she can't be this hero who at once stands against her husband and never believes him because in reality, she loves him, they have built a life together, have children together and she doesn't want to lose that. But at the same time in her heart, she doubts his innocence. I felt for Julie a lot who is the person who no matter what loses everything in a way.
A marriage wears a woman's fingers harder than it does a man's."
This book was really well written and easy to fly through as well, and I loved the tense kitchen/restaurant atmosphere combined with the tension of a court case as well. The narrative around a 'perfect victim' isn't something new but I still enjoyed Sarah Gilmartin's take on it and I loved all the narratives that made up this story and captured it so well.
July 3, 2024
Dass ich dieses Buch direkt nach „Notizen zu einer Hinrichtung“ gelesen habe, war vielleicht nicht die beste Idee. Denn in der Art, wie die Geschichten erzählt werden, ähneln sich die beiden Bücher. In beiden Büchern wird die Gegenwart und Vergangenheit beleuchtet, in beiden Büchern kommen mehrere Charaktere durch ihre Perspektiven zu Wort. Der einzige Unterschied ist, dass sich „Notizen zu einer Hinrichtung“ wie ein Puzzle zusammenfügt, während „Service“ viel mehr um den heißen Brei herumtänzelt.
Es geht, wie im Klappentext beschrieben, um Hannah und ihre Zeit als Kellnerin in Daniels Restaurant. Daniel steht vor Gericht wegen Vergewaltigung einer anderen Kellnerin, mit der Hannah damals befreundet war. Während all den Rückblenden wird klar, dass auch Hannah etwas schlimmes in diesem Restaurant widerfahren ist. Aber das was bleibt beim Lesen lange geheim. Und genau das hat mich irgendwie gestört. Weil es dem Spannungsbogen nicht zuträglich ist, sondern vielmehr versucht spannend zu sein, aber stattdessen einfach nur langatmig ist. Nach der Hälfte des Buches habe ich mich so sehr auf die Folter gespannt gefühlt, dass ich einfach nur noch genervt war.
Ein weiterer Kritikpunkt ist, dass das Buch deutlich mehr Tiefe hätte vertragen können. Wobei sich das eigentlich hauptsächlich auf die Charaktere bezieht. Denn der Roman ist definitiv character-driven, wird also hauptsächlich durch die Charaktere und ihre Emotionen gesteuert/vorangetrieben. Dafür sind aber eben diese ziemlich eindimensional geblieben.
Im Fokus steht natürlich Daniel, der Chefkoch. Der ehrlich gesagt einfach nur unsympathisch rüberkommt. Er kategorisiert Frauen rein nach ihrem Aussehen. Bewertet eine beispielsweise nach ihren „tollen Titten“ und vergleicht Frauen mit Sätzen wie „die andere hat schönere Beine“. Es ist einfach nur oberflächlich, primitiv, herablassend und ekelhaft. Er sieht sich selbst nicht mal als Ekelpaket, sondern definitiv als Unschuldslamm. Man kann Daniel in diesem Buch nur nicht mögen. Und das finde ich gerade schade. Natürlich ist er der Bösewicht, er ist der Vergewaltiger. Aber der gesamte Inhalt des Buches hätte so viel mehr Tiefe bekommen, wenn er nicht in seinem ganzen Wesen schlecht gewesen wäre, sondern man selbst auch im Zwiespalt ist, wer nun die Wahrheit sagt und wer nicht. Für mich bestand diese Frage aber von Anfang an nicht, weil Daniels alltägliches Verhalten schon zeigt, was für eine Art von Mann er ist.
Bei Hannah, einem von Daniels Vergewaltigungsopfern, sieht es ähnlich aus. Zwar erfahren wir nach und nach mehr über ihre Vergangenheit – wer sie vor Jahren war. Aber wir erfahren kaum etwas über die Jetzt-Hannah. Obwohl das Buch sich um ihre Emotionen dreht, habe ich von diesen ein sehr schlechtes Bild erhalten. Vor allem bei ihr hat mir so viel mehr Tiefe gefehlt. Ich habe nicht mit ihr mitgefühlt, weil ich sie nach Lesen des Buches einfach nicht kannte.
FAZIT
Von „Service“ habe ich mir wohl einfach mehr erhofft. Das Thema sexueller Übergriff ist für jede Frau im Alltag mehr oder weniger präsent. Allein schon deshalb berühren uns Romane darüber viel mehr als andere. Aber dieses Buch hat mich leider überhaupt nicht berührt. Ich habe nicht mit den Charakteren mitgefühlt, weil es einfach so viel tiefer, emotionaler und mitreißender hätte sein können. Ich habe mir vorgestellt, dass dieses Buch von völlig zerrissenen Charakteren handelt. Aber leider waren sie allesamt sehr eindimensional.
Es geht, wie im Klappentext beschrieben, um Hannah und ihre Zeit als Kellnerin in Daniels Restaurant. Daniel steht vor Gericht wegen Vergewaltigung einer anderen Kellnerin, mit der Hannah damals befreundet war. Während all den Rückblenden wird klar, dass auch Hannah etwas schlimmes in diesem Restaurant widerfahren ist. Aber das was bleibt beim Lesen lange geheim. Und genau das hat mich irgendwie gestört. Weil es dem Spannungsbogen nicht zuträglich ist, sondern vielmehr versucht spannend zu sein, aber stattdessen einfach nur langatmig ist. Nach der Hälfte des Buches habe ich mich so sehr auf die Folter gespannt gefühlt, dass ich einfach nur noch genervt war.
Ein weiterer Kritikpunkt ist, dass das Buch deutlich mehr Tiefe hätte vertragen können. Wobei sich das eigentlich hauptsächlich auf die Charaktere bezieht. Denn der Roman ist definitiv character-driven, wird also hauptsächlich durch die Charaktere und ihre Emotionen gesteuert/vorangetrieben. Dafür sind aber eben diese ziemlich eindimensional geblieben.
Im Fokus steht natürlich Daniel, der Chefkoch. Der ehrlich gesagt einfach nur unsympathisch rüberkommt. Er kategorisiert Frauen rein nach ihrem Aussehen. Bewertet eine beispielsweise nach ihren „tollen Titten“ und vergleicht Frauen mit Sätzen wie „die andere hat schönere Beine“. Es ist einfach nur oberflächlich, primitiv, herablassend und ekelhaft. Er sieht sich selbst nicht mal als Ekelpaket, sondern definitiv als Unschuldslamm. Man kann Daniel in diesem Buch nur nicht mögen. Und das finde ich gerade schade. Natürlich ist er der Bösewicht, er ist der Vergewaltiger. Aber der gesamte Inhalt des Buches hätte so viel mehr Tiefe bekommen, wenn er nicht in seinem ganzen Wesen schlecht gewesen wäre, sondern man selbst auch im Zwiespalt ist, wer nun die Wahrheit sagt und wer nicht. Für mich bestand diese Frage aber von Anfang an nicht, weil Daniels alltägliches Verhalten schon zeigt, was für eine Art von Mann er ist.
Bei Hannah, einem von Daniels Vergewaltigungsopfern, sieht es ähnlich aus. Zwar erfahren wir nach und nach mehr über ihre Vergangenheit – wer sie vor Jahren war. Aber wir erfahren kaum etwas über die Jetzt-Hannah. Obwohl das Buch sich um ihre Emotionen dreht, habe ich von diesen ein sehr schlechtes Bild erhalten. Vor allem bei ihr hat mir so viel mehr Tiefe gefehlt. Ich habe nicht mit ihr mitgefühlt, weil ich sie nach Lesen des Buches einfach nicht kannte.
FAZIT
Von „Service“ habe ich mir wohl einfach mehr erhofft. Das Thema sexueller Übergriff ist für jede Frau im Alltag mehr oder weniger präsent. Allein schon deshalb berühren uns Romane darüber viel mehr als andere. Aber dieses Buch hat mich leider überhaupt nicht berührt. Ich habe nicht mit den Charakteren mitgefühlt, weil es einfach so viel tiefer, emotionaler und mitreißender hätte sein können. Ich habe mir vorgestellt, dass dieses Buch von völlig zerrissenen Charakteren handelt. Aber leider waren sie allesamt sehr eindimensional.
May 18, 2025
TW: rape, sexual assault, gaslighting
A cutting scrutiny of the Irish justice system's handling of rape cases; and a realistic portrayal of the minds and lives of those affected. Examines both societal and individual psyches very deeply but sympathetically. Each character POV was realistic and convincing, sadly I would not be surprised if each of these characters were not inspired by real people.
Being in Daniel's head was hard work, but I flew through the pages nonetheless, driven forward by longing for Hannah to find some peace and justice. The conclusion is devastating but cathartic in many ways and it felt very fitting to end on a chapter from Julie, looking for a way forward. The writing is beautiful throughout, poetic but never clichéd. At no point did it resort to shock tactics, titillation or a "big twist" for no reason.
Sexual violence is an issue that affects so many, and for too long has been far too taboo, but this open discussion goes some way to bringing the flippant, outdated, and illogical attitudes of perpetrators and those who defend rape culture to light. It also highlights the serious mental health issues that it can cause without infantilising the survivors. I felt empowered by it and hope others do too.
4.5 stars
A cutting scrutiny of the Irish justice system's handling of rape cases; and a realistic portrayal of the minds and lives of those affected. Examines both societal and individual psyches very deeply but sympathetically. Each character POV was realistic and convincing, sadly I would not be surprised if each of these characters were not inspired by real people.
Being in Daniel's head was hard work, but I flew through the pages nonetheless, driven forward by longing for Hannah to find some peace and justice. The conclusion is devastating but cathartic in many ways and it felt very fitting to end on a chapter from Julie, looking for a way forward. The writing is beautiful throughout, poetic but never clichéd. At no point did it resort to shock tactics, titillation or a "big twist" for no reason.
Sexual violence is an issue that affects so many, and for too long has been far too taboo, but this open discussion goes some way to bringing the flippant, outdated, and illogical attitudes of perpetrators and those who defend rape culture to light. It also highlights the serious mental health issues that it can cause without infantilising the survivors. I felt empowered by it and hope others do too.
4.5 stars
January 26, 2025
I’m disappointed that I didn’t like this as much as I wanted. The writing was simply not on par with the importance of such a story and the message that Gilmartin wanted to spread. Not enough time spent with the victims and their lives outside of the restaurant and assault, and a lack of distinction between the writing styles for the 3 narrators made the story blend together oddly.
The ending was okay, however I feel as though a couple extra pages or even setting up the ending earlier in the novel would’ve benefitted it - it felt rushed.
I left the novel feeling like Gilmartin’s exploration of what consent and complicity looks like was too surface level - when telling a story like this, I don’t think it is enough to explore these themes so simply, hence my disappointment.
The ending was okay, however I feel as though a couple extra pages or even setting up the ending earlier in the novel would’ve benefitted it - it felt rushed.
I left the novel feeling like Gilmartin’s exploration of what consent and complicity looks like was too surface level - when telling a story like this, I don’t think it is enough to explore these themes so simply, hence my disappointment.
April 3, 2024
Vorab: Dieses Buch nur lesen, wenn es dir gut geht. Spoiler nur an, weil ich aus dem Buch zitiere. TW: Sexuelle Gewalt, sexueller Missbrauch, the list goes on …
Ein „Vorfall“, drei Perspektiven. Was genau passiert ist, kommt erst ziemlich am Ende raus und doch wächst mit jeder Seite ein Unbehagen, das ich nicht beschreiben kann. Das wiederum hat Sarah Gilmartin so so so gut gemacht, dass ich markiert, markiert, markiert und so viel mitgenommen habe.
I mean Sätze wie: „Und dann hörte ich auf, Nein zu sagen, weil ich dachte, dass es so einfacher würde.“ Oder „Ich will nicht auf eine halbe Stunde im Zeugenstand reduziert werden, nach der sich alle nur an die Vorwürfe von losen Sitten, Alkohol und Drogen erinnern. Denn wenn man zu einer Sache Ja sagt, muss man wohl zu allem bereit sein.“
Zudem wird sehr gut beschrieben, wie Männer mit eben diesen „Vorfällen“ umgehen. Sei es dir Täter, Mitwissende, Außenstehende.
Am Ende hätte ich gerne noch gewusst, wie es weiter geht. 4,5 Sterne.
Ein „Vorfall“, drei Perspektiven. Was genau passiert ist, kommt erst ziemlich am Ende raus und doch wächst mit jeder Seite ein Unbehagen, das ich nicht beschreiben kann. Das wiederum hat Sarah Gilmartin so so so gut gemacht, dass ich markiert, markiert, markiert und so viel mitgenommen habe.
I mean Sätze wie: „Und dann hörte ich auf, Nein zu sagen, weil ich dachte, dass es so einfacher würde.“ Oder „Ich will nicht auf eine halbe Stunde im Zeugenstand reduziert werden, nach der sich alle nur an die Vorwürfe von losen Sitten, Alkohol und Drogen erinnern. Denn wenn man zu einer Sache Ja sagt, muss man wohl zu allem bereit sein.“
Zudem wird sehr gut beschrieben, wie Männer mit eben diesen „Vorfällen“ umgehen. Sei es dir Täter, Mitwissende, Außenstehende.
Am Ende hätte ich gerne noch gewusst, wie es weiter geht. 4,5 Sterne.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 4, 2025
My Rating: 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ thought provoking and sad a well written LitFic!!
The Waitress. The Chef. The Wife
Hear their stories, all different but tell a version of the same story… the trick is figuring out which one is truth.
This is a story that is told in three very distinct voices Hannah, our waitress. Julie the wife and Daniel the chef. A celebrity chef who is accused of the sexual assault of a past employee.
This story is set in Dublin, Ireland and it is an interesting yet heartbreaking tale of the lives that can be ruined based on an accusation. But is that accusation fact or a work of fiction. The internet plays an interesting part in the public deciding on a verdict before the case is won or lost. As I imagine is what happens in real life.
Daniel of course admits no guilt and the way this book is written you do often wonder what is going on, I am not going to let on to the fact but I was starting to wonder how this was going to play out.
The story does take a good long while to really get stuck into it but I didn’t mind. It meanders through Hannah’s POV (which was my favourite of all three) telling us about life at the restaurant, her training, the parties and the creepy feelings she got throughout.
Julie infuriated me and I wanted her to slap the shit out of Daniel or leave him or just do something… what felt like an eternity went by before she did do something but in the end I felt like it was satisfying.
Don’t come into this one expecting excitement, definitely some suspense but not action at all. There are some tough scenes to read to watch your TWs throughout. I really found it an excellent portrayal of fact vs fiction, truth vs lies and how one or two or five things that really change the trajectory of one or many people’s lives.
Overall, it is a gloomy read (I love me a depressive novel) and it is very very slow. If you like action or things to jump out at you this one may not be for you. If you are happy with a slow literary character focussed read then this one has it. Again just watch your trigger warnings there is a lot of mention of rape and there are some scenes that might be difficult to read.
The Waitress. The Chef. The Wife
Hear their stories, all different but tell a version of the same story… the trick is figuring out which one is truth.
This is a story that is told in three very distinct voices Hannah, our waitress. Julie the wife and Daniel the chef. A celebrity chef who is accused of the sexual assault of a past employee.
This story is set in Dublin, Ireland and it is an interesting yet heartbreaking tale of the lives that can be ruined based on an accusation. But is that accusation fact or a work of fiction. The internet plays an interesting part in the public deciding on a verdict before the case is won or lost. As I imagine is what happens in real life.
Daniel of course admits no guilt and the way this book is written you do often wonder what is going on, I am not going to let on to the fact but I was starting to wonder how this was going to play out.
The story does take a good long while to really get stuck into it but I didn’t mind. It meanders through Hannah’s POV (which was my favourite of all three) telling us about life at the restaurant, her training, the parties and the creepy feelings she got throughout.
Julie infuriated me and I wanted her to slap the shit out of Daniel or leave him or just do something… what felt like an eternity went by before she did do something but in the end I felt like it was satisfying.
Don’t come into this one expecting excitement, definitely some suspense but not action at all. There are some tough scenes to read to watch your TWs throughout. I really found it an excellent portrayal of fact vs fiction, truth vs lies and how one or two or five things that really change the trajectory of one or many people’s lives.
Overall, it is a gloomy read (I love me a depressive novel) and it is very very slow. If you like action or things to jump out at you this one may not be for you. If you are happy with a slow literary character focussed read then this one has it. Again just watch your trigger warnings there is a lot of mention of rape and there are some scenes that might be difficult to read.
January 6, 2025
Well written and compelling--a novel not only about the strange culture inside the restaurant industry (in this case, in Dublin), but also an indictment of the male-centric culture of Ireland itself,
July 21, 2024
god daniel’s part made me want to spoon my insides out
July 18, 2025
book 2 ! we are so back !
loved this book ! BELIEVE WOMEN !
loved this book ! BELIEVE WOMEN !
November 18, 2025
Het boek gebruikt de wisselende perspectieven bijzonder doeltreffend: elke stem legt een nieuw laagje bloot en houdt je als lezer alert.
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