Book Review: One's Company by Ashley Hutson

My Rating:

4.5⭐

“The world was so haphazard and frightening, why not arrange it the way I wanted it? Why not?”

Our protagonist Bonnie Lincoln finds solace in watching reruns of Three’s Company, a popular sitcom originally aired between 1977-1984, after a traumatic event that alters her life irrevocably. Some years down the line, when she comes into a large sum of money after winning the lottery she decides to leave everything and everyone behind and create her alternate reality, modeling her new life along the lines of her favorite television show. 

"Other people can ruin a dream just by knowing it."

What starts with purchasing property in a secluded location and building a replica of the apartment shared by the main cast members evolves into creating a facsimile of the whole world of the television show down to the minutest detail and acting out the lives of her favorite characters, turn by turn, while maintaining minimal contact with the outside world.

“Three’s Company was a door into a new way of life, an immersion into a different decade, into lives and histories that were different from my own, into a family that could not be broken.”

As the narrative progresses, we see how Bonnie gradually immerses herself into her new world but will she truly find what she is looking for? Will her meticulously planned illusion truly provide the comfort and security she craves? 

"I planned to manipulate time itself, to escape it and warp it, bend it to my will."

Narrated by Bonnie in the first person, One's Company by Ashley Hutson is an intense and immersive experience. I have never read anything like this before. The premise is so unique and the writing is excellent. Parts of it are difficult to read especially in parts where we bear witness to Bonnie’s traumatic past and her loneliness. The author addresses some important themes in this book such as trauma, depression and mental health. In Bonnie, the author creates a flawed individual who is unable to navigate her way through the loss and darkness in her life. Many of us have dealt with grief by seeking refuge in television, movies and books and I could fully empathize with Bonnie’s need for solitude and her need to create a safe space for herself. But after a point, the story takes a bizarre turn and some moments are quite disturbing, the ending in particular. Though the story is unrealistic and far-fetched, to say the least, I found this hard to put down.

"It was always easier, talking to someone who wasn’t there. Who was dead. I tried not to do it too often, but funny things happen sometimes, when a person is alone."

I remember watching Three’s Company as a child ( or rather sneaking peeks while my late father watched it ) in the 80s. I’ll admit to sometimes catching the reruns broadcast on television even now. The show and the humor never cease to make me laugh (I try not to judge a show from the 70s based on present-day sensibilities). Now I’ll be thinking about this book every time I hear the theme song. I'm not sure how I feel about that.