Okay Then That's Great

by Susannah Wise

For several months Marnie, a middle-aged poet and mother, has experienced sightings of her long-dead identical twin sister, Perdita, across London. As a consequence, and due to her crippling writer's block, she has sought the help of octogenarian Harley Street shrink, Schlap, to work through her problems. Not least her repeated dreams of being a man.

Schlap has problems of his own though, having recently suffered a silent stroke which has affected his memory. Or is he more aware of reality than Marnie herself?

Marnie's long-suffering partner and their three teenage kids are not helping matters, either. Neither is Marnie's bohemian Alpha-course attending mum, her diabetic chef dad, nor the inquisitive family dog. Perhaps Marnie's encounter and blossoming friendship with a woman who she thinks is the living embodiment of long-dead author Katherine Mansfield will provide the key to unlock her mind. Will Marnie's writing be liberated from its prison? Is she losing her mind? Will the price she has to pay be bigger than the sum of its parts? And does the previous sentence even make sense? All will be revealed...

314 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 21, 2022

About the author

Susannah Wise is an actor and writer who grew up in London and the Midlands. A childhood spent outdoors inspired her love of nature and tree climbing.

The death of her father three years ago was the catalyst for her first novel. His preoccupation with astronomy and the beauty of the night sky formed the jumping-off point for the story.

Susannah studied at the Faber Academy, graduating in September 2018, during which time she wrote a second, more peculiar novel. Both books have been longlisted for the Mslexia Prize.

She lives in London with her partner and son.

Reviews

[Beth]

This book is like nothing I have ever read before, and I reckon I will be thinking about it for a long time to come. It was simultaneously sad, funny and incredibly frustrating at times. I don't know whether there is a correct interpretation as to the events of this book. and if there was I must admit that I am none the wiser, but as a portrayal of grief, madness and psychoanalysis it was excellent.

The one downfall for me was the vague mentions of the pandemic, which felt cheesy and glib; perhaps it is too recent to be used as plot point?

[Emma Hardy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ohmygosh where do I even begin?
I spent about the first 80% of these pages thinking what is going on? and in a wonderful state of confusion, eager to get to the bottom of this.
All of characters have strange quirks and definitely don't help in the jigsaw pieces coming together.

This has so many subject matters portrayed and it is so cleverly done.

Thought provoking, powerful, addictive.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story:
Marnie has started seeing her twin sister Perdita again — sometimes on the other side of the road, sometimes driving past in a car. The only problem is, Perdita died 30 years ago. Marnie had also struck up a friendship with long-dead writer Katherine Mansfield, but that’s another story…

Is she having a breakdown? Is she moving between dimensions? And will she be able to write 25 poems by the end of the week to meet her editor’s deadline?

My thoughts:
Author Susannah Wise’s first novel, “This Fragile Earth”, a near-future dystopian tale of survival, sounds like just the sort of story I’d enjoy, but so far haven’t read. So I was excited to have the chance to read the author’s second novel, “Okay Then That’s Great”, this time set in the present day and focusing on Marnie and her eclectic (and fairly bonkers!) family.

The upcoming 18th birthday of Marnie and partner Ben’s twin daughters has triggered some painful memories for Marnie, who lost her own twin to a traffic accident a few weeks before their own 18th. A really lovely part of this book is that, following the advice of her therapist Dr Schlapoberstein (Schlap for short), Marnie starts to make a list of things she loved about her twin; and these thoughts are included at the end of each chapter, providing a poignant window into Marnie’s loss and grief, but also her sense of humour.

The writing style of this book took me a while to get used to — Marnie’s stream of thoughts are so quick, and seemingly random, it was a slightly bewildering read when I started! But the further I went, the more I enjoyed the character’s narration of her own confusion, and the more I got to like her. This is a crazy, exuberant, and at times very touching novel, and I look forward to reading more from this author.

[Monika Armet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marnie is a poet, a wife to Ben, and a mother to 17 year old (soon to be 18) twin daughters, Sylvia and Blythe, and 13 year old son, Stan.

She started seeing a therapist, an elderly gentleman, Schlap, after experiencing sightings of her twin sister, Perdita. The problem is that Perdita is dead, and has been for a very long time.

Schlap tells Marnie to write down all the things she liked about her sister and each chapter of the book finishes with a little note about Perdita. I must admit I looked forward to each chapter ending, as I would find out more about Perdita. By including these little snippets of information, I felt like I was getting to know her, even though she was dead.

Soon, Marnie sees a woman calling herself Katherine Mansfield, who to Marnie’s knowledge was a 19th century writer. Katherine occupies the same building as Schalp, but when Marnie asks him about it, he denies having any neighbours. Is Marnie seeing another ghost?

I laughed and cried when I read this book. In parts, it’s hilariously funny (the parts about Marnie’s phallic obsession – Freud would have had a field day with her!), and yet evocatively sad. In some parts, I had no idea what was going on, whether Marnie was seeing real people or ghosts.

As I was reading this book, I got the impression that Marnie was feeling lonely and ignored by her husband, children, and even her religious parents. Marnie was a stark atheist, so after a while of her parents bringing up religion in their conversations, she started to question whether non-believing is right.

This is a story that touches on mental health, grief, counselling and establishing connections. The knowledge of psychoanalysis was phenomenal and added value to this book.

I recommend it.

[Marina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay then that’s it! DNF at the halfway mark. Although part of me would like to continue to find out how this novel ends, the other part knows that I have far more enticing and worthwhile books to read on my shelf.

I assume the novel is exploring the trauma of grief; however, if that is the case, it is doing it in an outrageous and flippant style, which I feel is going for a deliberate shock value.

Unfortunately, this novel is just not for me.

But I’ve left a bookmark in and may come back to it because there is something intriguing and unique about it. I can’t work out if it is trying to be lightheartedly serious or seriously lighthearted.

[vic ☁️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

meilleur livre que j'ai jamais lu je pense

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are some moments when you hate the characters and the writer, there are some moments when you love the characters and the writer. It's confusing, gripping, very funny and very sad.
It's a complex story, it makes you wonder if you understood what you read and keeps you hooked.
Please read it.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I spent about 85% on my time reading this book being extremely confused as to what was actually going on, however the ending redeemed it

[Carol-ann Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book of Susannahs that I have read and after absolutely loving the first one I just knew I had to read this one!
This one is VERY different from the first I read. It very much had me much questioning what I had just read. It is written in such a different way that it really puts you in the mindset of the main character.

The book is based on the MC Marnie who is having to see a psychologist as she believes she is seeing her dead sister doing normal everyday things such as shopping at Waitrose. But she isn't seeing her as the 17 year old she was when she passed but as the same age as Marnie currently is.
We get to travel down the rabbit hole (yes this book reminded me a little of Alice meeting the mad hatter's etc) and see that Marnie's poems she is writing are disappearing, she makes friends with Katherine Mansfield and strange things that are not part of her world are appearing.

This book honestly had me reading it like 🤨 but strangely I really enjoyed it at the same time!
There was definitely some humour, some raunchy parts and just general caring from Marnie's family that made this book what it is.

Although I didn't love this book as much as This fragile earth I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys books that are a little quirky. And if nothing else you will have a really fab cover on your shelves!!

[B.S. Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I'm standing in the booze aisle if Waitrose Essex Road, when I see my dead sister. It's the third sighting in as many months."

Things aren't going great for Marnie right now. It could be the grief of losing her sister, it could be her publisher threatening to drop her, it could be the dreams she keeps having about having a penis, or it could be that she keeps seeing her sister who's supposed to be dead. Her family don't see the ghost of Perdita, but then again they can barely see Marnie who's still alive, and her husband and kids seem to have no idea what's going on either.

And to top it all off, her actual therapist might be more delusional than she is right now. But when she meets a new friend, Katherine, who might actually be a reincarnated author, maybe another ghost, she knows she has to start piecing it together.

But maybe, there's more to this story. She might be losing her grip on reality, or reality might be losing it's grip on her. And Marnie doesn't know which one is scarier.

"I'm not in a book. This is honestly what happens. My life is a collection of clichés. I wake up."

I didn't quite know what to expect when I opened this book, but this is the kind of book where you need to expect the unexpected. It took off right away, painting us a picture of the growing unrest and madness in Marnies life with Susannah Wises' trademark quirk and flair. She is awkward and clumsy and gloriously chaotic - but beneath all the chaos there was a painfully relatable person, a woman trying to cope with loss, to learn about her own despair and desires, and lost in a confusing world.

We're shown the many different angles to her life, snapshots and connections to create a person that becomes familiar and clear. All the characters are crafted with the same delicate care, from her overbearing, cult-like parents, her slightly odd children and her octogenarian therapist.

The storytelling starts off somewhat normally - but Wise has a way of making any normal setting just seem slightly off, something so subtle you can't figure out exactly what is wrong but know something isn't right. From here, everything quickly descends into confusion, moving quickly and erratically like a fever dream but the beautiful clarity held within the last chapters is nothing short of a masterpiece.

Between the madness, there is a tender tale about the absurd reality of grief and it's affect on the human condition. Full of whimsy, wit and warmth - it's very clear that Susannah Wise is just getting better with every page.

[Sally]

Not every book is for every person and I cannot tell you if you will or will not like this one. It is possibly a marmite of the book world because of its originality, but if you love it you will love it and oh my goodness it will really make you think and wonder what you have read.

Marnie is a poet…well she wrote a book of poetry but inspiration is sadly lacking and she is running out of excuses for her publishers. There’s a lot going on in Marnie’s world and it doesn’t help that she has started seeing her twin sister around her London home..but her twin sister died many years ago as the family prepared for their 18th birthday party. Marnie is now preparing for the 18th birthday party of her own twins and the memories and grief are overwhelming her..She has enrolled with an eccentric psychologist but the visions of her sister continue and now she thinks she is having a relationship with a Katherine Mansfield lookalike..She’s also experiencing some strange physical manifestations and sexual desires..

Without doubt the writing in this unusual novel is really good..this felt very modern, edgy …reminding me of tv programmes like Fleabag..I loved the London setting, very familiar to me, with tube rides and London streets and neighbourhoods..

For me this felt so much about grief..the absolute and overwhelming loss of a sister was almost physical, devastating and I felt that Marnie was unravelling bit by bit..I wasn’t always sure which parts of her life were real and which were part of some psychedelic landscape of her mind, a kaleidoscope of her sanity as she tries to be a Mother, a daughter and a wife, but everywhere grief is tripping her up. This at times was bizarre, unsettling and sometimes rather weird and a bit like a will of the wisp ..an understanding that was just out of your reach. And interspersed with is the calm and grounding, often comic, day to day of her family, and her parents and her children and her strange psychologist who seem to be trying so hard to anchor her..

And there is one scene - if you know you know. This was a real experience of a read!

[Greenreadsbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s hard to know what to expect from the book when you first start – the opening page describes Marnie seeing her dead sister in the booze aisle of waitress and it gets odder from there. It’s difficult to summarise without giving spoilers!

I personally loved the book – I found it really moving in places, very thought provoking, well written and unique. I needed to Google a few things to check my understanding but that made it all the more interesting.

I wholeheartedly feel that how you engage with this book will very much depend on your own life experiences and feelings. For me, I could identify with some of Marnie’s experiences and this added some depth of understanding. There are some difficult topics covered, the main ones being grief and mental illness but also family relationships, perimenopause, and parenthood.

There was a good cast of characters and the main ones especially were well developed. I found the Katherine Mansfield wannabe funny and intriguing. Ben, Marnie’s husband, drifted in and out of the story and Marnie’s parents were interesting characters.

One thing I noticed through the whole book was Marnie’s lack of support. It seemed that she was floundering and trying to hold it all together whilst her husband and family were getting on with their own lives. She seemed to be trying to do it all whilst not really achieving much and when she needed Ben he wasn’t there for her. The death of her twin had a profound effect on her which she had carried, along with guilt, for over 30 years.

The story weaves a web of intrigue, confusion and humour that really mirrors Marnie’s mental state. It is written with intelligence, warmth and insight and I believe that it’s quite remarkable. It won’t be to everyone’s taste but why not give it a try – who could resist a book containing love, sex, humour, mystery and madness?

4.5 stars

[Lauren pavey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really unusual book. Imagine ‘Alice in wonderland’ meets ‘eleanor oliphant is completely fine’ with a bit of a mid life crisis thrown in.
When I started reading this book I thought it might even be a DNF but i think it’s one of those books which much like Alice you have to tumble through the looking glass and just go with. The more you try to reason or make sense of the surroundings the more confusion you will feel.

This book is built on layers and layers of emotions. I feel like Marnie is almost suffocated at times with the amount of emotions and thoughts running through her.
it can be very hard at times to follow what Marnie is experiencing fully and to make sense of it.
Equally though the confusion that I experienced just made me connect to Marnie even more.

It is at times easy to read and others completely frustrating. It’s one of those books where you sit back when you finish and think ‘wait… what just happened’ and I must confess I’m still not entirely sure what was real or not but i equally will look back at this story with a sense of enjoyment and fondness.

Thank you to the author and of course the amazing team at instabooktours for arranging this amazing book tour

[Duckfacekim09 (Kim Howell) · Rating 5 out of 5]

'There's nothing truly black-and-white about any aspect of life, Marnie." "Except nuns and zebras.'

I only started this book yesterday because I knew it wouldn't take me long to read and obsessed is an understatement 😍 I got good vibes from this book, from the cover and the humour which started on the first page. I also loved how each chapter is broken down (but I don't want to give spoilers so you'll have to read it yourself to find out what I mean).

The non-subtle nod to COVID-19 at the beginning of chapter three actually made me laugh out loud 😂 In fact, the whole of the third chapter was gold 👌🏼 And then I continued to laugh throughout the book, and not many books actually make me laugh out loud!

I adored the characters of Schlap and Katherine Mansfield, and I wish they existed in real life so I could meet them. Loved the sapphic moments throughout the book too 😏

This really was a great and unique exploration of mental health and although I feel like the term 'fever dream' is used a lot to describe books nowadays, I don't know how else to describe it!

My only criticism is that I hate long chapters!

This has shot straight into my top five books of this year ❤

[Kelly Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

If there's one book that should be on your radar, this is it! Okay Then That's Great  was a breath of fresh air and I loved reading it so, so much! It is bizarre and hilarious, wild and wonderful; just an all round great book!

I'm not overly sure I knew what was going on half of the time and I was perfectly fine with that. This had me laughing out loud one minute and then feeling for the main character the next as she's going through all these moments, having all these thoughts, feeling like she's losing her mind. I think there's aspects within this story that we'll all relate to in some way or other.

If you're looking for your next read, put this one high up on the list and thank me after!

* Please research any trigger warnings before reading *

[Linh Hoang · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this book in just a few days, in that way it can be said that the story is captivating. Though I am not sure if I truly enjoyed the reading. The whole book was utterly confusing, mixing what’s real and what’s not. So i kept reading and reading to try to understand what is going on, or maybe i was expecting there would be a grand reveal in the end that would make things make sense. But the ending is no plot twist, it is only reasonable, and maybe, to my own expectation, not the most satisfying.

[Louise Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wild, unexpected ride. The quote on the front of the book says 'very funny'...this is not exactly how I would describe this book. There are funny parts but markedly more so there are odd and confusing which make you question what is actually going on (which is the author's intention). Despite this sense of chaos throughout most of the book I found the ending very satisfying and quite moving. Definitely not everyone's cup of tea but I found it to be a page turner (mostly motivated by the desire to try and understand what on earth was going on...!)

[Robert Connelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This starts of great , beautifully described but the plot just goes on and on until it becomes boring, just more of the same. The finish is bland.
The author posts a declaration that is for people contemplating suicide. If they are, it would only drive them closer. Creative writing has to be more careful than this novel.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant, imaginative exploration of the madness of grief. Witty observations and quirky characterisation pull you along for the ride, but at its core, it’s a story about losing sense of yourself when death makes reality incomprehensible. Totally unique.

[Doon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this zany yet big-hearted novel about a middle aged woman who can’t get her family to realise that she’s struggling, and also, that she might have tapped into a parallel dimension. It had a similar vibe to Woman On The Edge of Time by Marge Piercy.

[Hayley Dunning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely bonkers, in the best way.

[Paradise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me sadly… a bit too surreal and I don’t think I understood it. Some good elements within, but overall a bit odd.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really really loved this book. It was an absolutely wild ride, didn’t know what was going on for most of it, still not 100% sure, but very much enjoyed the journey.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witty, weird and wonderful.

[ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

a little too much of (whatever the hell THAT was?!) going on

[Clara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly strange & beautiful?

[Maria Mavroenidis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely funny and perfect for when you need your brain to be reorganised by madness

[Maria Dellaporta · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this woman is losing her mind. Quite frankly I found this book pointless. I bought it because I liked the cover so it serves me right.

[Row · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t get it.

[Stella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laughing throughout the first 250 pages and then SOBBING at the last 60
What an awesome book !!!! so crazy