Lauren Rothery’s debut novel, Television, unfolds in short chapters that switch between three characters’ perspectives. Verity is a fading 49-year-old film star who spends his days acting in awful blockbusters and going on drinking sprees. Helen, his on-and-off lover for over twenty years, reminisces about their relationship and her lifelong attempt to become a successful scriptwriter. Phoebe, a young woman, travels to her recently deceased grandparents’ house in France, where she works on a screenplay and thinks about art and death. 

To the extent that Television has a plot, it is about the fallout from two decisions Verity makes: to become involved with a 21-year-old actress and to raffle off the outrageously high salary he receives for one of his movies. The consequences of these events are explored perceptively. Verity muses