Dolly All the Time
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Background
Genre Context: The Fake Dating Trope in Contemporary Romance
The plot of Dolly All the Time is built around the fake dating trope, a popular narrative device in which two characters pretend to be in a relationship for mutual benefit, only to develop genuine feelings. This structure creates a low-stakes environment for emotional intimacy to grow, exploring themes of vulnerability and authenticity. The appeal of the trope lies in watching the characters navigate the line between performance and reality, often leading to both humorous and heartfelt moments as their manufactured connection evolves into a real one. This trope has some historical precedent, as many famous literary courtships involve deceit of a similar kind, including Benedict and Beatriz being duped into love in Much Ado About Nothing; Frank Churchill courting the title character in Jane Austen’s Emma to cover his secret engagement to Jane Fairfax; and Merton Densher pursuing an engagement with the wealthy, terminally ill Milly Teale to gain her fortune for his secret fiancée in The Wings of the Dove. The fake dating trope in contemporary romance has evolved from the high social and economic stakes of romance to lower stakes comedy.
This convention is a staple of the contemporary romance genre, appearing in numerous best-selling novels. For instance, Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient (2018) tells the story of Stella Lane, a successful mathematician who hires an escort named Michael Phan to help her learn about romance. Jasmine Guillory’s The Wedding Date (2018) also follows characters learning to balance work and love. The career-focused Alexa Monroe and Drew Nichols meet in an elevator, where he asks her to be his plus-one to his ex’s wedding. A wedding also sparks a fake dating relationship in Elena Armas’s debut, The Spanish Love Deception (2021), which follows a woman who persuades an irritating coworker to pose as her boyfriend at her sister’s wedding. Similarly, Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis (2021) features a graduate student who fakes a relationship with a professor to convince her friend she has moved on romantically. In addition to generating romantic tension in Dolly All the Time, Annabel Monaghan’s usage of the trope critiques class divisions and explores the transactional nature of relationships in the characters’ world. The eventual development of a “very-real romance” between the two characters highlights the novel’s core message that true connection can emerge from even the most artificial circumstances.
Geographical Context: Newport, Rhode Island, and the Gilded Age
The fictional town of Whitfield is modeled on the real-world coastal city of Newport, Rhode Island, a setting that provides an important backdrop of historical class division. During the Gilded Age in the US, from roughly 1870 to 1910, Newport became the premier summer destination for the nation’s wealthiest industrialist families, including the Vanderbilts and Astors. These titans of industry built opulent “summer cottages,” which were, in reality, massive palaces designed to highlight their immense fortunes. Mansions like The Breakers, a 70-room estate built for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, mimicked European palaces and stood as symbols of a new American aristocracy. This history is mirrored in the novel through the Whitfield family and their grand estate, Eight Oaks, which is a modern-day Gilded Age mansion. The stark contrast between the Whitfields’ inherited wealth and the working-class life of Dolly, whose family has run the Brick Fish House for generations, establishes the central social conflict. The novel’s setting also engages with modern Newport’s emphasis on historical preservation. Organizations like the Preservation Society of Newport County, founded in 1945, now maintain many of these Gilded Age mansions as museums, reflecting a complex local relationship with this legacy of extravagance. This context enriches the reader’s understanding of the deep-rooted tensions between the town’s year-round residents and its wealthy summer inhabitants, a dynamic that shapes Dolly and Stewart’s relationship.
Authorial Context: Monaghan’s Career Trajectory
Before becoming a best-selling author of adult contemporary romance, Monaghan explored other genres, establishing a foundation in humor and young adult fiction. Her early work includes two young adult novels, A Girl Named Digit (2012) and Double Digit (2014), which blend adventure and romance. She also published Does This Volvo Make My Butt Look Big? (2016), a collection of humorous essays based on her columns for outlets like The Huffington Post. This background in witty commentary and stories for younger audiences honed the sharp, comedic voice that would later define her adult fiction. Monaghan’s career pivoted significantly with the 2022 release of Nora Goes Off Script, a romantic comedy that became a New York Times bestseller and solidified her place in the adult market. Subsequent novels, including Same Time Next Summer (2023) and Summer Romance (2024), cemented her reputation as a “master of the summer romance” (v), celebrated for creating heartfelt stories about relatable characters navigating love later in life. Dolly All the Time continues in this successful vein, combining the witty banter characteristic of her essays with the romantic plotting of her previous novels. Her established brand of storytelling attracts a dedicated readership and praise from peers, who have called her writing “smart, snappy, and satisfying” (vi).
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