Immediately, Kismet envelopes you in the mind of Anna – a young-ish journalist living and working in London who is facing a birthday milestone, a high status work project (given to her exclusively) and an ever-present agitation with the virtual world of possibilities and numbers that is ‘Kismet’, a very familiar love-match app.
Luke Tredget creates a story environment from Anna’s perspective that is as visually convincing as that of a witty, London-based comedy. The paperback cover of Tredget’s book sports the iconic, red double-decker bus of London as well as a well-matched reference to Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s tragicomedy, Fleabag. Kismet falls more on the side of honest reality/comedy as the protagonist Anna rushes through her busy work days and distracted headspace at home - a flat shared with her committed boyfriend Pete - in an anxiety-coloured depiction of an unsatisfied work/romance balance.
‘Anna looks fixedly at the pegs on the wall above her and feels like the worst kind of actor – a mere puppet aping the actions of a human – as she takes off her coat and hangs it up.
…
‘He says her name with a slight emphasis that makes Anna look at him suddenly: his face is blank, and his broad shoulders seem to span the width of the hallway, blocking her path. For a paranoid moment, she wonders if he might somehow know everything, if he has been tracking her movements, but she quickly rejects this as baseless, the product of alcohol and guilt.’
Kismet is entertaining if just as a social commentary to modern-day dating. The narrative follows Anna as she chooses not to pursue a “54” but sits down to lunch with a “72” with striking green eyes. But its true value lies in the consumable, internalised world of Anna who fears the monotony of her relationship and finds herself being led by the flashes of more exciting memories and possibilities.
Tredget’s writing is never laboured, Anna’s story is delectable as he makes fashionable her world of city working and living. But with countless reutterances of relatable, tedious events and encouragingly selfish choices, Kismet presents a likeable story from page to page.
‘Anna feels self-conscious initially, but she forces herself through this and orders the spatchcock chicken and, since a glass is scarcely cheaper and she deserves to treat herself, a carafe of white wine.’
Kismet is definitely a fun read.
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