Dial A For Aunties
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3.7 • 46 Ratings
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
Winner of the Comedy Women In Print Prize 2021
‘Whip-smart, original and so funny. I found it impossible to put down and lost count of the number of times I laughed out loud’ Beth O’Leary, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Road Trip
Your family would kill to see you happy
‘ARE YOU…DEAD?’
OH MY GOD. I THINK HE IS.
When Meddy Chan accidentally kills her blind date, she turns to her aunties for help. Their meddling set her up on the date so they kind of owe her.
WELL, THAT DIDN’T QUITE GO TO PLAN.
Although hiding this goddamn dead body is going to be harder than they thought especially when her family’s wedding business has THE biggest wedding of the year happening right now.
IT’S PRETTY BAD TIMING REALLY.
It turns out the wedding venue just happens to be managed by Meddy’s ex, aka the one who got away. It’s the worst time to see him again, or…is it? Can Meddy finally find love and make her overbearing family happy?
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Readers LOVE Dial A For Aunties!
‘Its dark humour and hilarious family dynamics had me in stitches from start to finish’
‘I loved every second of reading it and couldn’t predict what was going to happen next’
‘I couldn’t stop laughing throughout’
‘The characters felt so relatable’
‘What a great book this is – a really fun read’
‘A hilariously funny rom-com’
‘Escapist fun that’ll keep you turning the pages and giggling throughout’
About the author
Jesse Sutanto is an author of books for children and adults. She received her Masters from the University of Oxford and a BA in English Literature from Berkeley. She grew up in Indonesia and Singapore and currently lives in Jakarta with her husband and two daughters. The film rights to her women’s fiction, Dial A for Aunties, was bought by Netflix in a competitive bidding war.
You can find out more about Jesse on her website www.jesseqsutantoauthor.com and follow her on Twitter @thewritinghippo and on Facebook and Instagram @JesseQSutanto
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Jesse Sutanto cooks up a deliciously dark debut that puts Chinese-Indonesian culture at its centre. We meet Meddy Chan, a 26-year-old photographer feeling marooned in her Californian hometown, where she was raised by her single mother—and a full set of meddling, competitive aunts. Jesse Sutanto switches skilfully from past to present day in painting her technicolour picture of the raucous all-female family, and we start to understand the pressure Meddy feels suffocated by. However, these issues pale into significance after Meddy accidentally kills a blind date—leaving her family the only port of call. We’re treated to a wonderfully slapstick, jet-black comedy of errors, as the aunts (numbered not named by Sutanto—which sounds like it shouldn’t work, but really, really does) squabble their way to a solution. At its heart, though, this is a book that celebrates family, community and rich cultural traditions with real heart.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Sutanto's bonkers debut, a series of disasters befalls a family wedding catering business. Meddy Chan, 26, works as the photographer for her overbearing, superstitious Chinese Indonesian aunties and mother. Convinced there's a curse that causes men to leave the women of the family and crushed by an obligation to remain near her mother in San Gabriel, Calif., Meddy breaks up with her soul mate, Nathan. She's still not over him when her mom arranges a date for her with a man named Jake, who attempts to rape her, prompting Meddy to tase him. Jake doesn't wake up, and Meddy turns to her aunts for help. They store Jake in a cooler, which is then inadvertently shipped to the Chans' next wedding gig, at a hotel that happens to be owned by Nathan. Plenty of hijinks ensue, but the Chans are oddly glib as they try to keep Jake hidden, and Meddy's pining over Nathan feels trite. The best parts are Sutanto's portrayal of the bantering, interfering aunties (" ‘How could you set Meddy up with such a douchebag?' Fourth Aunt snaps at Ma"), who excel at wreaking havoc. There's plenty of light entertainment here, but don't expect anything with bite.
Customer Reviews
Dial A for Aunties
Very disappointing. Written format is definitely to a prescribed ‘recipe’ and the twists are unbelievably predictable.
Vocabulary used is somewhat limited.
It is mildly amusing in parts.
Possibly it is not meant as adult literature. It maybe be appreciated much more by early teens.