The Conversations: 66 Reasons to Start Talking

In the vein of Alain de Botton and Adam Phillips, a provocative and diverting book of short essays to get you thinking and talking. Conversations to have with friends, partners, or just with yourself.
     Have you ever been at a dinner party and suddenly realised there is no real conversation going and wished for ideas to start a really good one? Ever wondered where conversation disappears to when you've been with the same partner for a long time? Does it really have to just peter out, as though human beings were finite containers, the contents of which simply got used up over time?

     Most of us have known the heady joy of conversations that can go on all night. As teenagers and students, we had an opinion on everything. But as we get older, the humdrum of domestic life gets louder and we begin to lose touch with ourselves. This book will encourage you to think anew, and is as much about self-knowledge as getting to know those we share our lives with.

     In The Conversations Olivia Fane has written over sixty short essays, all thought-provoking and some provocative, all aimed to provide starting points for conversations, on happiness, on vanity, on the Soul (according to Plato), on infidelity, on bankers... and many more. Whether you agree with Olivia, or vehemently disagree, The Conversations will provide endless food for thought. Something different, something freewheeling. An alternative and surprising window into a partner or a friend, or even yourself.

OLIVIA FANE has survived one divorce, married two husbands, been awarded three M.A.s in Classics, Social Work and Theology, written four novels, and given birth to five sons. She lives in Sussex.