This is not a book review. It’s more a thank-you note to Michael Plosker, who reads this blog. Michael recently suggested that I try the novel Eleven, written by the comedian Mark Watson. I think it might be the best literary recommendation I’ve ever received. How I’ve loved my mornings reading it in the sun, outside Costa on Eton High Street.

I’ve always enjoyed Watson’s stand-up slots and contributions on television panel shows. His observations are funny and his tone charming. I love comedians who, though sharp as a knife, do not use their wit to be relentlessly cruel to weak targets. They are the gentle-giants of oratory, and very admirable, I think. I’d put Watson very much in that category. (There’s something rather cute about him too, and he lives in the south-west of England, as so many cool people do.)

His novel Eleven is written around the chain of consequences that can be sparked by a simple action, or lack of action, in one moment. The novel’s hero is radio presenter who unwittingly creates just such a chain that profoundly effects the lives of him, and 10 other Londoners. It’s engrossing to follow the unravelling of it all.

I’ve actually always believed, on a more mystical level, that every decision each of us makes has a bearing on the whole world. But in Eleven, Watson is tackling a more literal process, from a six-degrees-of-separation perspective. The plot is so cleverly woven, the style so adorable, and the characters so realistic, that the book and its premise really get under your skin.

In the time I was reading Eleven, I kept feeling like I was looking at the world a bit differently. Yesterday morning, when a shop worker accidentally dropped several bottles of balsamic vinegar, sending them smashing to the floor, covering my beloved white cotton trainers in stains, I resisted the urge to ask her what she planned to do to get my shoes clean for me. Instead I took them home to deal with it myself. Because I wondered what chains of events might have been sparked had I have caused a scene in the shop. (There are two dramatic moments involving people unintentionally dropping things in the story.)

Equally, had a chain of events led to her dropping the bottles in the first place? If so, the next stage in the chain hit me hard. When I got home, I was in such a rush to clean my shoes that I banged my head really hard against an unexpectedly open door in my kitchen. It was so painful – I assumed I’d been clubbed over the head at first.

Anyway, I loved Eleven. It’s warm, moving and thought-provoking, plus it’s got an important message about life. So thank you again to Michael for the recommendation – and to Mark Watson for writing it.