I know, I know, some of you are thinking that these guys are losers, but that's where you'd be wrong. Yani gercekten ilk sıraya koymak; sadece sevgililer günü kartına bir tanem yazmayı ya da buna benzer şeyleri kastetmiyorum. He still lives at home with his parents, and his older sister’s wedding is a central focus of the plot. A man who had stood by him through everything and who had always reserved a space in his (admittedly quite) life just for Leonard.

These 2 men are sweet, unconcerned about life, play board games together, and see the world differently. Grace and her husband left the church after their wedding to the exact same song my husband and I left the church to on our wedding day – The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, on the organ.Leonard, who works writing entries for children’s encyclopedias, recognises that this represents a key turning point in his life and that he has the choice either to retreat further from the world (which he fears will turn him into a grumpy eccentric) or start to carefully engage with it (a path he embarks on when a single mother at work – her child a fan of his work - starts to show interest in him). He is often inventively funny, as when he refers to blokes going to the pub “for an evening of darts, dominoes, cards or other prison games”. I have a long standing interest in meditation and there’s something zen like about this, particular in the monk-like Leonard. It doesn’t help that they are both are from the ‘slacker’ generation so their way of thinking does differ. Although Leonard feels lonely after the death of his mother, Hungry Paul’s family are there to ensure he isn’t alone.

It’s this strand that comes closest to nineties lad-lit (à la Nick Hornby or Mike Gayle), with the focus on Leonard and the woman who will change his life.

It’s less of a catalyst and more of a blossoming for both of them, managed at their own pace and with the cushioned support of people who love them. I'm an introvert, one who hasn't been brave enough to drop the mask, but that doesn't mean that I haven't known excruciating moments of social awkwardness. However, unaccustomed as he is to seizing the day, he wonders how to act when faced with the opportunity, uncertain as to how quickly he should move.