After the Party

Ralph’s Party, Lisa Jewell’s bestselling 1999 debut novel, told the story of how the ‘perfect couple’ Jem and Ralph first fell in love and got together. So many readers and booksellers have read it and loved it, and were thrilled when the sequel was announced. After the Party is [...]
Visa längre beskrivning

Ralph’s Party, Lisa Jewell’s bestselling 1999 debut novel, told the story of how the ‘perfect couple’ Jem and Ralph first fell in love and got together. So many readers and booksellers have read it and loved it, and were thrilled when the sequel was announced. After the Party is the ‘what happened after the happily ever after’ story that we so often wonder about, but rarely get. Eleven years later, Ralph is tired of the chaos of family life in a cramped London flat, struggling to paint and fed up with feeling unnecessary. Jem is juggling her job with caring for a 3-month old baby, struggling to feel attractive again, and fed up with Ralph. She’s also avoiding conversation with the strangely attractive dad she keeps bumping into at the playground, who seems to be the one person to really see her for the first time in years. Jem and Ralph still love each other, but life isn't as simple as that anymore. Will they be able to find their way back to each other, or are they better off apart?

This book is a thoughtful and humorous look at the reality of relationships, and at how we can lose ourselves so easily along the way without even realising. Warm, touching and immensely enjoyable.