Blake serves sharp satire but lacks substance and depth

THERE'S a certain kind of book that promises to say something profound about power, ambition and womanhood, and then it collapses under the weight of its own cleverness.

- LIESL VAN DER SCHYFF

Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake teeters dangerously close to that edge, but even when it stumbles you cannot quite look away.

Olivie Blake's Girl Dinner is one of those books that sounds better in theory than it reads in practice.

It's meant to be a sharp satire about womanhood, ambition and belonging, but it often ends up feeling like hard work.

The story centres on two women who seem to be living on opposite ends of the same pressure cooker. Nina Kaur is a university student desperate to join The House, the most exclusive sorority on campus. Sloane Hartley is a new mother and part-time lecturer trying to keep her career alive while raising a baby and watching her husband's career take off. Both women are chasing ideals that promise success but end up leaving them empty and unfulfilled.