Dolly All the Time: A Guest Post by Annabel Monaghan

A hardworking single mom returns to her seaside hometown and stumbles into a fake dating situationship with a wealthy, workaholic scion, from the New York Times bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script. Read on for an exclusive essay from Annabel Monaghan on writing Dolly All the Time.

“This book is like a spicy margarita…sweet and a little salty, tart and hot…I have fallen in love with Dolly and with funny, fizzing Annabel Monaghan!” —Catherine Newman, New York Times bestselling author of Sandwich

 

Years ago, I was in a writing workshop, and the teacher offered this prompt: “I am the one who . . .” To my horror, the first thing that popped into my mind was “holds the keys.” I wished I had something more interesting to write about, like “rocks the dance floor,” but the truth is that for twenty years I was the person in my neighborhood who kept everyone’s extra set of keys. I had a whole junk drawer dedicated to them, labeled with everyone’s names and alarm codes. I don’t know how I ever became this person, though it plays to some of my less sexy qualities: I’m reliable and I’m home a lot.

I am fascinated by how we step into these roles, particularly in our own families—the mediator, the troublemaker, the achiever. In particular, I’m interested in how it feels to be the person who everyone turns to—for the children, the elderly, the holidays. If you’re the “It’s fine, I’ve got it” person, who do you turn to for care?

Dolly Brick is a single mother with a full-time job and three side hustles, arguably a woman with a full plate. But somehow, she is the first person everyone calls in an emergency. As I wrote many drafts of this book, I came to appreciate how she does it all so willingly. She doesn’t begrudge the way she has to show up for her father and her disabled brother. She is under no duress when she gets up early to bake muffins for breakfast. Even though she’s running on fumes, showing up is her way of making sure everyone’s okay. I started looking back at my own experiences with caretaking through Dolly’s eyes. Certainly, with my children and to some extent with my disabled brother, I often found myself willingly serving but completely spent. There was help to be had, but I was reluctant to ask. Like Dolly, I thought overdoing was an act of love.

I was careful with Dolly as I moved her through the routine of her life. I desperately wanted her to ask for help, but I knew she’d do it in her own time. I wanted to give her the ultimate luxury—a break she didn’t have to ask for. In fact, all the luxurious moments she enjoys in much of the story are framed as favors for Stewart, her fake boyfriend. A shopping spree, sunset on a yacht—it’s as if I designed this book to trick Dolly into taking time off.

Stewart is also a caretaker. He only has one job and no side hustles, but everything falls on him. He is the eldest son, the heir, and the guardian of his family’s legacy. Being in Dolly’s and Stewart’s heads allowed me to imagine the pressure of caretaking from all angles—from stewarding multigenerational wealth to making sure your disabled brother remembers to put his pants on. It was my profound joy to watch them fall in love and learn to lean on each other. Dolly All the Time is both a love story and a love letter to caretakers.