A Population of One

Willy (Wilhelmina) Doyle has two objectives: to get a job teaching and to marry somebody as promptly as possible – or at the very least to have an affair. This latter plan is labelled The Project. Our heroine is undeterred by the fact that, at 30, she is starting both projects a little late.

The first objective is easily accomplished when Willy gets a job teaching in a university English department, which suits her very well. Progress on The Project, however, is more difficult to measure, in spite of the several men in Willy’s new life. It is only after a romantic trip for two that Willy makes real progress on The Project — and comes to know true loneliness.

Told with a wry, self-deprecatory humour that can describe sexual disasters with elegance and affection, this book is part comedy and part tragedy. Readers will enjoy meeting brave, optimistic Willy Doyle.