Jessica Stanley’s 'Consider Yourself Kissed' explores love and identity in a changing Britain

Stanley’s contemporary romance captures personal and political upheaval across a decade of transformation in modern England.

Illustration by Evgeny Alekseev

By Novanka Laras and Hayu Andini

Jessica Stanley’s Consider Yourself Kissed novel is a vibrant, emotionally intelligent take on the classic girl-meets-boy storyline, reimagined for the complexities of 21st-century life. With its blend of humor, political awareness, and intimate storytelling, this sharply written narrative charts the course of Coralie Bower, an ambitious copywriter turned aspiring novelist, as she navigates a decade of seismic personal and national transformation in the United Kingdom.

Set in London and spanning from 2013 to the early 2020s, Stanley’s book introduces readers to Coralie at a pivotal moment in her life. Having moved from Sydney to start anew, Coralie may be geographically and emotionally distant from her roots, but she is anything but despondent. As Stanley notes early on, “Although she was totally alone, Coralie Bower, aged 29 and a half, was certainly not unhappy!” Her optimism becomes the emotional anchor of the novel, even as her journey unfolds against the backdrop of some of Britain’s most turbulent political years — including the Brexit referendum and the Covid-19 pandemic.

A chance encounter that sparks a decade-long evolution

Early in Consider Yourself Kissed, Coralie meets Adam, a divorced political journalist, and his four-year-old daughter, Zora, during an ordinary afternoon in Victoria Park. What begins as a chance encounter turns into a decade-long emotional entanglement filled with love, conflict, and the ever-complicated quest for fulfillment. Their relationship forms the novel’s emotional spine, yet Stanley deliberately resists reducing the story to a simple romantic arc.

Instead, she layers Coralie’s growth with introspective questions about ambition, identity, and familial legacy. Adam’s presence — as both romantic partner and political commentator — invites comparison to the public and private struggles many face in a world where personal lives are deeply entangled with current events. As Adam’s career ascends, covering British politics through columns, podcasts, and books, Coralie remains stuck in a stagnant brand agency role, sidelining her literary dreams in the process.

Echoes of Mary McCarthy’s The Group

Readers familiar with Mary McCarthy’s 1963 novel The Group will notice the thematic and textual homage Stanley pays throughout Consider Yourself Kissed. The book’s title is taken directly from a signature line in McCarthy’s novel, which is discovered by Adam beside Coralie’s bed. What begins as a literary Easter egg becomes a shared language between the couple, as they begin signing their messages “C.Y.K.” — a quiet, poignant symbol of their bond.

McCarthy once described The Group as “a kind of mock-chronicle novel,” charting women’s evolving roles in society. In a similar vein, Stanley updates this format for a new generation, exploring how modern women reconcile their personal desires with societal expectations, particularly in an era marked by political volatility, gender debates, and economic inequality. The novel becomes, at its core, a study of progress — or the illusion of it — especially as it pertains to women’s roles in love, motherhood, and professional ambition.

A rich tapestry of family and connection

Stanley crafts a kaleidoscopic portrait of relationships, extending beyond the nuclear to explore the beauty and messiness of modern families. Readers meet an unforgettable supporting cast: Adam’s conservative ex-wife and her Tory politician husband; Zora’s same-sex grandparents Anne and Sally; Coralie’s brother and his much older partner; a distant, self-centered father; and a loyal poodle named Madonna. Each character, no matter how minor, adds texture and nuance to the story, enriching its themes of belonging and emotional survival.

At the heart of Coralie’s struggle lies her estranged relationship with her mother, who is gravely ill in Australia. The mother-daughter dynamic — strained, unresolved, but deeply formative — becomes the quiet pulse behind Coralie’s search for unconditional love. In one particularly affecting moment, when Coralie is asked about plans to have a child, the emotional weight of her internal conflict becomes starkly apparent: “She wished she’d phoned her own mother when she’d had the chance. But that would have left her empty in a different way.”

A decade of drama, both public and private

As Coralie and Adam’s relationship ebbs and flows, so too does the world around them. Stanley intertwines the couple’s private experiences with the political shifts sweeping Britain, making Consider Yourself Kissed feel both personal and panoramic. From the rise of Theresa May and Boris Johnson to the looming shadow of authoritarianism and the destabilization wrought by Brexit, the novel deftly captures how external events permeate the domestic sphere.

The Covid-19 pandemic becomes another test of resilience — both for Coralie’s creative dreams and her fragile emotional equilibrium. While Adam publishes books and expands his political voice, Coralie watches from the sidelines, her writing dreams deferred, her emotional reserves depleted. The novel subtly critiques the uneven emotional labor often shouldered by women in long-term relationships, and the toll it takes on their sense of self.

Identity, ambition, and the cost of love

In some of the novel’s most introspective passages, Stanley explores the paradoxes of romantic attachment through Coralie’s internal monologue. “The price Coralie paid for love was fear and getting lost,” she writes. “Something was wrong with her, it set her apart — she couldn’t be in love, but she couldn’t be out of it either. If she didn’t love, she was half a person. But if she did love, she’d never be whole.” These moments of existential vulnerability lend the book an emotional depth that resonates long after the final page.

The title’s question — “Consider Yourself Kissed” — serves not only as a gesture of affection but as a challenge: to be seen, to be chosen, to be worthy. Can Coralie carve out a space for herself — both literally and metaphorically — in a world that constantly demands her sacrifice? Is “a room of one’s own” truly possible for women today?

A resonant portrait of modern life

In Consider Yourself Kissed, Jessica Stanley offers more than a love story; she provides a compassionate, witty, and at times heartbreaking examination of what it means to live meaningfully during a decade defined by uncertainty. With crisp prose, layered characters, and an unflinching eye for emotional truth, Stanley captures the contradictions of modern womanhood — the tension between self-sufficiency and emotional connection, ambition and caregiving, hope and realism.

Ultimately, this is a novel that embraces complexity and finds joy within it. Even amid loss, regret, and political disillusionment, Stanley reminds readers of the power of humor, tenderness, and narrative itself to affirm life. As Coralie’s journey proves, fulfillment is rarely linear — but it is always worth pursuing.

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