“Thirty means only going to the pub if there’s somewhere to sit down. Thirty means owning at least one classical CD, even if it’s Now That’s What I Call Classical Vol 6. Thirty means calling off the search for the perfect partner because now, after all these years in the wilderness, you’ve finally found what you’ve been looking for.”
Unlike most people, Matt Beckford is actually looking forward to turning thirty. After struggling through most of his twenties, he thinks his career, finances, and love life are finally sorted. But when he splits up with his girlfriend, he realises that life has different plans for him and Matt temporarily moves back to his parents.
Within hours, his mum and dad are driving him up the wall just like the old days. Feeling nostalgic and desperate foe sanity, he decides to get in touch with his old school mates. So one by one, he tracks down the rest of the magnificent seven – Gershwin, Pete, Bev, Katrina, Elliot and Ginny, his former on-off girlfriend. Back together after a decade apart. But things will never be the same for any of them because when you’re turning thirty nothing’s as simple as it used to be.
Turning Thirty is the third novel by Mike Gayle. It follows the story of Matt Beckford who is on the cusp of his life-changing thirtieth birthday.