Other People's Fun by Harriet Lane #OtherPeoplesFun @HarrietLane_ @wnbooks @harrietlane.bsky.social @wnbooks.bsky.social #BookReview

 

'I look. I can't stop looking. That's the deal, isn't it? We all know that's how it works. If someone wants to be seen - and oh, how they want to be seen - then someone has to watch.'

Ruth is alone, unnoticed and at a loss: her marriage has ended, her daughter is leaving home and her job is leading nowhere.

But luckily Sookie is back in her life - vivid, self-assured Sookie, who never spared the time for Ruth when they were teenagers, but who now seems to want to be friends. What could possibly go wrong?

As Ruth is caught up in Sookie's life, she sees that everything is not as simple and Instagrammable as Sookie would have you believe. But what has that got to do with Ruth, and what can she do about it?

Unputdownable, funny, spiky and subtle, Other People's Fun is a novel about modern life and the lies we tell our neighbours, friends, families and selves through the hall of mirrors that is social media. Filled with Harriet Lane's trademark creeping unease and forensic observation, this marks the long-awaited return of the mistress of literary suspense.

Other People's Fun by Harriet Lane is published on 30 October 2025 by W&N. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

I was absolutely delighted when I discovered that Harriet Lane had written a new book. Her first two novels; Alys Always (2012)  and Her (2014) are two of my all time favourite books. I was convinced that we wouldn't get another story from her, but here we are, over ten years later and I am thrilled to say that Other People's Fun is excellent.  The author delivers something that is both familiar and uneasy: a novel that asks quietly discomforting questions about who we are, how we present ourselves, and what we believe about the people we think we know.

Ruth is at a point in life when things feel unsteady: her marriage has ended, her daughter is leaving home, and work isn’t giving her much satisfaction. The novel opens as she attends a school reunion and Sookie re-enters her life. Sookie, was one of those people in school who seemed to have everything, but who never made much effort with Ruth back then. Sookie is vibrant, sure of herself, and seems, in many ways, enviable. 

But as the story progresses, what looks like glamour begins to seem more fragile, more constructed. The life Sookie shows Ruth, and the rest of the world has huge gaps. As Ruth becomes drawn into Sookie’s world, the lies, the omissions, the performance of a life lived to the full start to peel away.

The author's strength here is the creeping tension. The book is not in your face dramatic but quietly so with a creeping tension.  The reader feels that something is not quite right, it is unsettling and so satisfying to read. 

The character creation is fine and precise. Ruth is well drawn, she is sympathetic, flawed, someone you want to suceed. . Sookie’s charisma is intoxicating, and the contrast between what Sookie shows and what she hides in a way that feels believable. 

Other People’s Fun is, in so many ways, what this author does best: incisive prose, morally ambiguous characters, and a sense that ordinary life has its own kind of horror. It’s not a comforting read, but it’s a compelling and worthy one. It made me think about how easily we can slide into comparing ourselves, how fragile our façades are, and how often we see others as more complete, more enviable, than we feel we are ourselves 

Sharp, well observed and darkly witty, this is a fabulous read. Highly recommended. 

Harriet Lane has worked as an editor and staff writer at Tatler and the Observer. 

She has also written for the Guardian, Vogue and the New York Times. 

She is the author of two other novels, Alys, Always and Her. 

She lives in North London.

www.harrietlane.co.uk

X @HarrietLane_

BlueSky @harrietlane.bsky.social