The fact that these two aren’t married, and are partners with children also speaks to how many couples are committed without a legal document these days.

I think Jewell has provided readers with an interesting look at the struggles of maintaining a healthy relationship and the ebb and flow of love. Since then she has written another twenty novels, most recently a number of dark psychological thrillers, including The Girls, Then She Was Gone, The Family Upstairs and The Night She Disappeared. When she gets there, she glances down, as she always does, into the basement pit of the house at number thirty-one. I like the idea that she's gone back to her first book, Ralph's Party and imagined what became of the characters, which considering this is supposed to be 'Chick Fic' (or is it 'Lit'? The first book was something of a cut above your standard chick-fic fare, almost heading into Nick Hornby territory, when he gets his culture/zeitgeist hat on and touches a nerve here of there.Did you know, for example, that it is precisely twelve years to the day since you beat up Siobhan’s boyfriend outside an art gallery? If you are looking for a looking for a psychological thriller that will unfold secrets and truths in a shocking manner, this book is for you. Lisa Jewell tackles all of the gritty real life issues that couple who are married and with a family may encounter. Poignant and heart-wrenching, it's a wonderful insight into what can happen when the fairytale finally ends.

It was so forced that it was evident (reinforcing the Acknowledgments by the author at the beginning of the book) that this book was written for monetary purposes and not because there was a legitimate concept of what happened to these two characters. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. It is the unmistakable sound of her firstborn clattering down the stripped floorboarded stairs in her pink Lucite Barbie Princess slippers.Jem has become bogged down with motherhood and running a home and just wishes Ralph would help out a bit as she struggles to start working again.

The book itself leads us into their lives and sees the end result with both Ralph and Jem getting together and leaving the book with that happy ever after feeling. The way Jewell describes the jobs and work that this entails and how it absorbs a woman's focus is very accurate without being a drag for the child free. The emotions, if not some of the situations, are genuine and compelling and overall I was truly engrossed in this heartfelt novel. The brilliant novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Ralph's Party, Then She Was Gone and The Family Upstairs. I think After The Party could be confronting for readers who prefer a happy ever after ending but comforting for those who are at, or have been at, a similar crossroads in their relationship.It’s a long way round the houses back to reconciliation, and the route can seem frustratingly obstacle-strewn, but Jewell’s easy prose and storytelling ability make for a pleasant enough trip. But behind all that there is a terrible, gnawing sense that something is wrong with Ralph, that he is in some kind of peril.

Faithful to the thriller genre, Jewell makes liberal use of red herrings and plot twists… The answer to the whodunit is a sly – and satisfying – surprise. It’s not even really necessary to read Ralph’s Party beforehand as everything is explained very well. And before the scruffy woman with the fat cats, a young couple with matching bikes and raincoats had lived here. This reading group guide for After the Party includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. Plus a babysitter to arrange for Friday night when she and Lulu had planned a night out at the theater.I don’t believe that Jem would have considered an abortion after what she went through to have children in the first place and neither do I believe Ralph would have been quite so understanding at being stood up. Once she hadn’t noticed the word leaving her lips; now it feels like something she’s borrowed from someone, something she needs to give back. For starters, what partner sods off to the US for a nice holiday, after his wife has literally only just had a baby? the funky bunch - ralph is a commitment-phobic father (he's sold on jem, the kid's, not so much), smith is a reiki-spiritualistic weirdo, rosey is a faux-christian rocker with cheap jewelry, lulu is exactly how you'd picture someone named lulu, karl is a cheap sideplot, the kids are tragic casualties in a plot device gone horribly astray, joel is a creepy-addict-stalker, lucas is a hot 24-year-old with some mild stalker habits learned from watching his crack addicted father.