The Party, Elizabeth Day
The Party, Elizabeth Day
1 Rating(s)
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
Club: $13.99

The Party

Author: Elizabeth Day

Narrator: Greg Wagland

Unabridged: 10 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/15/2017


Synopsis

A taut psychological tale of obsession and betrayal set over the course of a dinner party.

"Day's shrewd eye and authorial tone provide a gleeful, edgy wit.... [a] smart, irresistible romp."-New York Times Book Review

Ben, who hails from old money, and Martin, who grew up poor but is slowly carving out a successful career as an art critic, have been inseparable since childhood. Ben's wife Serena likes to jokingly refer to Martin as Ben's dutiful Little Shadow.

Lucy is a devoted wife to Martin, even as she knows she'll always be second best to his sacred friendship. When Ben throws a lavish 40th birthday party as his new palatial country home, Martin and Lucy attend, mixing with the very upper echelons of London society.

But why, the next morning, is Martin in a police station being interviewed about the events of last night? Why is Lucy being forced to answer questions about his husband and his past? What exactly happened at the party? And what has bound these two very different men together for so many years?

A cleverly built tour of intrigue, The Party reads like a novelistic board game of Clue, taking us through the various half-truths and lies its characters weave, as the past and present collide in a way that its protagonists could never have anticipated.

About Elizabeth Day

Elizabeth Day is an award-winning author and broadcaster based in the UK. Her chart-topping podcast, How to Fail, is a celebration of the things that haven’t gone right. Guests have included Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Gloria Steinem, Andrew Scott, Lily Allen, Mabel, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Malcolm Gladwell. It won the Rising Star Award at the 2019 British Podcast Awards. Elizabeth is the author of the novel The Party, which was published in the US in 2017.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Blair on July 09, 2017

A scrappy outsider accepted, precariously, by a privileged clique; the golden allure of wealth and exclusivity; a terrible and deadly secret. Give me variations on this theme from now until death and I will be perfectly happy. The Party is like The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Secret History and Bridesh......more


Quotes

"Elizabeth Day's psychological thriller, about an aristocrat's birthday party gone awry, updates Waugh, Highsmith and Fitzgerald... Day's sly fourth novel is an enticing mix of social, climbing, barely hidden list and possible crimes...THE PARTY knowingly nods toward Brideshead Revisited and The Talented Mr. Ripley. But Day refreshes their themes for an age in which the upper echelons retain their allure and their grasp on power while posing as common folk... Day's shrewd eye and authorial tone also provide a gleeful, edgy wit.... [a] smart, irresistible romp."—New York Times Book Review

"In this psychological page-turner, a deeply buried secret that ties two married couples together comes to a head during one lavish 40th birthday party."—Entertainment Weekly

"By page one of this devious, witty, thrilling book, you'll be as haplessly seduced by Ben Fitzmaurice's glamorous lifestyle as his old classmate, Martin Gilmour."—Refinery29

"[Martin] makes for a deliciously untrustworthy narrator; seemingly candid, but at the same time never telling the full story, perhaps because he's so good at keeping secrets.... Brimming with betrayal, corruption and hypocrisy, The Party is a gripping page-turner."—The Guardian

"Like Herman Koch co-wrote a literary page-turner with Patricia Highsmith-irresistible stuff."
Bomb

"Rave-worthy."—Book Riot

"Witty, dark and compelling"
Sebastian Faulks

"Superb--clever, gripping, psychologically acute."
Laura Barnett, author of The Versions of Us

"Day's latest novel is sinister and seductive and nothing short of breathtaking."
Francesca Segal, author of The Innocents

"Think Brideshead Revisited meets The Talented Mr. Ripley with a dash of The Riot Club. I couldn't put it down."
Louise O'Neill, author of Asking For It