A romance with Big Reader Energy

Funny Story by Emily Henry x Simpsons Sparkling Rosé

I have so much to say about Emily Henry’s latest novel, Funny Story, but first I want to talk about tropes. And particularly in romantic fiction. 

The long and short is: I love a romance trope. 

Give me your meet-cutes, your meet-uglies, your love triangles, your enemies to lovers. 

Give me the tough guy with a soft heart or the smart girl who doesn’t know how much she wants to be wooed. 

Give me the stories that hinge on serendipity, mutual pining, cases of mistaken identity, secrets that shouldn’t be shared, or simply a time where there was only one bed. 

Yup, in my opinion, tropes are fantastic. There’s something wonderful about reading a book where you think you know where it’s going - where you can meet your expectations like they’re old friends and still anticipate a twist. Because the best of them are a means of playing with the reader - the author knows that we’ve come across the concept before, that we’re primed for an experience and are ready to be surprised and delighted. 

Emily Henry is almost certainly the modern-day queen of the romance trope - and I mean this as the highest form of compliment. In Book Lovers, we saw a sizzling rivals-to-lovers plot play out with an extra touch of small town romance. In Beach Read, opposites very much attract as two totally different writers struggle to overcome their creative block. She served an ace with You and Me on Vacation too - taking on the classic summer road trip with an unrequited love story between (seemingly) platonic best friends at the centre. All her books are  full of fizzing energy and quippy dialogue and no small amount of spice - but wherever she leans into our readerly expectations, she is quick to subvert, add, and reimagine them too. 

Funny Story is exactly, then, what you would expect from Emily Henry. Here we have a tale of broken engagements, fake dating, misunderstandings and - of course - our protagonists are roommates. We are in trope heaven and thankfully also the surest set of hands to make them work. 

The nutshell of the novel is this: Daphne is a librarian in love with stories. In particular, she loved the one that her fiancé, Peter, used to tell about how they met - a meet-cute that belonged in a Hallmark movie and neatly set up their Hallmark future. Except now it turns out that their story was just the prequel. Peter has dumped Daphne for his childhood best friend, Petra, leaving her homeless in a town where she knows pretty much no one. The solution? To move in with Petra’s equally heartbroken ex, Miles, whilst she finds a new job far, far away from Waning Bay. 

Miles, of course, seems like her total opposite in every way. Scruffy, chaotic, albeit charming - he’s certainly not strait-laced Daphne’s type. So what if they’re able to bond over their awful exes? Or that they’ve maybe told everyone that they’re dating to stir the pot? Or that Miles sets a challenge to woo Daphne into at least falling in love with Waning Bay? There’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancés new fiancées ex. Right? 

Daphne and Miles are two wonderfully drawn characters and their growth from accidental roommates to friends to something more is one that feels very real and well matched. They may seem opposite but they share similar traumas and both long to be seen for who they truly are by the people they love. Their story is also powerful because their relationship encapsulates the courage that it takes to hold onto the people and things in life that make you feel whole - or to let go of those that leave you wanting. 

The craft that brings their story to life is something I absolutely to as well. The prose is emotive but never floral. The dialogue is, as ever, on point and decidedly witty. For all the heartache, it is also giggle-fit funny at times - I literally had to stop myself from laughing out loud because I was reading long after midnight and my partner was fast asleep next to me. The pacing is also excellent - from the development of our protagonists’ relationship to the pop up moments from Peter and Petra. Likewise, just as our hero and heroine feel relatable and full of depth, the secondary characters are similarly well-crafted. I loved meeting Julia and would read a whole book about Ashleigh. And then there’s Starfire. What a character.  

For me, this book is perfect. It’s exactly what it says it is: a shimmering, joyful novels about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common. It has some of the best tropes that she plays with effortlessly and with a wonderful sense of fun. And it helps that it’s ultimately a romance between a librarian and wine seller - what could be more perfect for The Book Cellar! 

 I highly recommend Funny Story for anyone with Big Reader Energy - the bibliophiles and unrepentantly bookish who love the meta and the crafty. And if you, like me, fall in love with Daphne and Miles - you should check out her other books. After all, Funny Story’s Daphne follows in the footsteps of Henry’s past heroines - novelists, travel journalists and editors - and through her this becomes a story about stories. About the ones we tell each other and the ones we tell ourselves. There’s a quote from Brecht that says that ‘falling in love involves telling ourselves a story about falling in love’. It’s the ultimate and best trope. 

The Pairing: Canterbury Rose Sparkling Rosé, Simpsons Wine Estate (Pinot Noir) 

The first thing that made me think about this wine for Funny Story is the romance of it. 

Imagine this: as the days grow long and the nights cool, hundreds of little tea lights flicker beneath row upon row of vines, staving off the frost and allowing the grapes to keep growing just a little longer into the autumn. It’s an image I’ve never been able to shake. I love the idea of these determined British growers trying to make something wonderful despite our weather using tiny candles to keep their vines warmer for longer. 

With that romance in mind, it felt like it fit narratively with today’s novel. So then I considered some of its other traits - I knew I wanted something that sparkled as much as Henry’s prose, that was light and refreshing but well crafted. And I also know that I wanted something with a good finish, the happily ever after of wines. These are all things I would happily suggest that Simpsons Canterbury Rose embodies. 

The Wine: Beautifully crafted and produced in the ‘traditional method’ (see the fun facts for more detail), Simpsons Canterbury Rose is a wine that’s designed to impress. It is grown on an estate in Kent that is fully dedicated to sustainability and eco friendly practices - and benefits from the winning combinations of sunny sheltered slopes, lime-rich chalk soils, and proximity to the sea which helps insulate the fruit. The Canterbury Rose - made of Pinot Noir - absolutely holds all the characteristics of those conditions, as we’ll discuss. 

Tasting Notes: The best way to describe the colour of this wine is rose gold - it has the shimmering warmth and palest pallor. On the nose you’ll find strawberry sorbet and a delicate floral note of honeysuckle and wild flowers, just a hint of something sharper too - cranberry perhaps. The bubbles are very fine, elegant, spider threads through the wine - and to drink they’re soft and caressing, which works to really bring out the grapefruit, lime and red berry palate. This is a dry sparkling with a medium acidity, well balanced and light bodied but with a finish that lingers enough for you to want more. It’s a really fabulous wine. 

Where can I buy it: Buy direct from the Simpsons Wine Estate or from enthusiasts like Corkk or Noble Green Wines or the wonderfully names The Wine Library.  

Fun facts: Many of the world’s best sparkling wines are made by the méthode traditionelle, or traditional method. This stems from the Champagne method, but isn’t allowed to be called that due to geographical protections - but it works super well for wines from cool climates where grapes may end up rather acidic and dry and need almost softening to find balance. The method is well known. Essentially a still wine is bottled and then additional yeast and sugar are added - the yeast ferments sugar into alcohol until dry. This creates the fizz. The wine is then left to age ’on the lees’, which adds the brioche notes and creamier texture. The bottle is then being turned at regular intervals (AKA riddling) until all the sediment is in the neck, ready to be removed and the bottle given its final cork. Some have additional sugar added before this (domage) to add a little sweetness. Sparkling wines like Crémant, Cava and Sussex all use the traditional method. It contrasts to the tank method typical of Prosecco or ancestral methods of Pét Nats.