The Love Algorithm | Claudia Carroll
REVIEWED BY LINDA HILL
If The Love Algorithm is anything to go by, I’m delighted I don’t use online dating apps!
This story is a whirlwind of false starts, inappropriate partners and a salutary lesson in what can happen when we try to force love into our lives. Claudia Carroll has written a funny, slightly frenetic, narrative that feels steeped in the tradition of Irish storytelling and that famous gift of the gab. The direct speech in particular has an undefinable Irishness that I thoroughly enjoyed.
The plot revolves around Iris and Kim’s development of the dating app Analyzed, and much of the humour comes through some disastrous dates Kim endures. However, whilst just about every character is looking for love, that isn’t really the point of The Love Algorithm. What Claudia Carroll explores so sassily and entertainingly is the basic human need for connection, for friendship and a sense of belonging. The prickly, frequently sharp-tongued, Iris is actually desperately lonely and whilst Kim is always the centre of attention with her hilarious anecdotes, at the bottom of it all is a need to be part of a community and to be loved rather than be “in love”.
Looking beneath the surface
I didn’t especially warm to either Iris or Kim until almost the end of the novel and I think this is a real strength in the story. The reader needs to get to know these two women just as much as they need to get to know one another – and themselves. There’s a lesson in looking beneath the surface to see the real person and Claudia Carroll carefully manipulates the reader into this important realisation with true skill so that The Love Algorithm seems to transfer an understanding of what’s important in life in a kind of literary osmosis.
Themes of family, honesty, working life and competitiveness give enough seriousness so that the more light hearted sections of the story feel well balanced. Kim’s habitual after work partying, Connie’s competitive friendship with Betty and Iris’s obsessive work ethic show just how unhealthy it is to take things to extremes, especially if that isolates us from genuine connection with friends.
I loved the concept that if we’re honest with one another and take more time to listen to our family and friends we might just be surprised by the outcomes.
The Love Algorithm is rather like Iris and, particularly, Kim – intelligent, fast, witty and a little bit frantic! I rather enjoyed it.
The Love Algorithm by Claudia Carroll is out now from Zaffre (PB, £8.99). And pick up this week’s issue of My Weekly for an exclusive short story, The Unexpected Date, written by Claudia.
Allison Hay
I joined the "My Weekly" team thirteen years ago and, more recently, "The People's Friend". I love the variety of topics we cover both online and in the magazines. I manage the digital content for the brands, sharing features and information on the website, social media and in our digital newsletters.
