It’s a familar setup – the clever but poor boy who inveigles his way into the world of the elite only to have his illusions of belonging shattered – think Donna Tartt’s The Secret History or Alan Hollinghurst’s The Line of Beauty. But where Hollinghurst’s Booker prizewinner was something of a swan song to the decadence of 80s Tory rule, The Party skewers the Conservatives of the Cameron years. The Great Gatsby is another formidable fictional antecedent that haunts the story, with Ben and his picture-perfect wife Serena – “one of those glamorous, wealthy women who don’t have enough to occupy their time and attempt to fill it with charity lunches and a nebulous search for meaning”– sounding clear echoes of F Scott Fitzgerald’s golden couple, Tom and Daisy Buchanan. A taut psychological tale of obsession and betrayal set over the course of a dinner party, The Party tells the story of two married couples who, in a single evening, will come to question everything they thought they knew about each other, as the long-buried secret at the heart of their friendship comes to the surface, culminating in an explosive act of violence.

While Lucy is far more perceptive than Martin, who is desperate to remain on good terms with Ben, she goes through the charade for her husband. But, don’t underestimate this woman. She may appear ordinary on the surface, but she’s got a little bite to her. I thought of all the characters in this little drama, she was the one I’d want on my team. Other people will despise this novel. So to be upfront....THIS REVIEW INCLUDES SPOILERS....(not primary spoilers to the GREATER STORY IN ITSELF), but detail WARNINGS about ‘ANIMAL WELFARE’. Elizabeth Day is an author and journalist. Her fourth novel, The Party is out in July 2017, published by 4th Estate in the UK, Little Brown in America, Belfond in France and Dumont in Germany. Pero un hecho que traerá consecuencias años después les pasará factura y pondrá a ambos en el lugar que ocupan, hay un tercer personaje, Lucy, la mujer de Martin que tiene un papel importante en la narración. A Goodreads friend recently posted a review of this book and I was so intrigued I got a copy from the library (Thanks Indieflower!). The book was published in 2017 but I don't remember hearing of it previously.Esta obsesión es el centro de la vida de Martin y la que finalmente desencadena el drama. Él es consciente de que su devoción no es correspondida del mismo modo y que la familia Fitzmaurice tiene diferentes motivos para aceptarlo en su seno:

They are an unlikely pair: the scholarship boy with the wrong accent and clothes, and the dazzlingly popular, wealthy young aristocrat. But Martin knows no one else can understand the bond they share - and no one else could have kept Ben's secret for over two decades. We sipped bellinis and talked about our childhoods, our hopes and fears. By the end of those seven days, I’d made one of my dearest friends’: Elizabeth with Joan Being honest and publicly vulnerable is not the only way to be, but it's certainly a brave and deeply humane way to be.” Martin - the protagonist was interesting in his slightly creepy devotion, but it would have been nice to get a clear sense of where his motives where coming from. Hints were made one way but reveals went another, and ultimately I couldn't make up my mind about him. The first hint that something is slightly off kilter is Lucy’s feeling that she and Martin have been slighted by the Fitzmaurice’s, who, despite having ample room in their enormous home, they have not invited them to stay overnight, forcing them to make a motel reservation at the last minute.As the train pressed on, I realised that my life was in the process of taking a different direction, plotted according to a new constellation. Because, although I didn't know it yet, I was about to meet Ben and nothing would ever be the same again. Author and broadcaster Elizabeth Day, 42, was raised in Belfast and later became an award-winning journalist, including a nine-year stint at the Observer. In 2018 she launched the podcast How to Fail, which has topped the iTunes chart, spawning live events and two books. She hosts Open Book on Radio 4, Sky Arts Book Club and is a judge for this year’s Women’s prize for fiction. She’s the author of five novels, the latest of which is Magpie. Martin, qué estúpido eres-, oigo decir a mi madre. Siempre se te olvida quién está al mando. Siempre te crees que eres mejor de lo que en realidad eres." I returned to London with a hangover. Over Christmas, my husband and I argued. He couldn’t understand why I was still upset over the miscarriage and I failed to understand why he couldn’t. By February, our marriage was over. I moved out, taking two bags of clothes. I didn’t know what I was doing, but some instinct told me I had to do it. 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.

We hold certain beliefs when it comes to how we make friends in adulthood. We imagine our bond will be forged through a shared interest – a hobby, maybe, like a book club or finding each other in the local yoga class every Saturday. Or it’s a life-phase thing – children at the same school, working in the same office or living in the same part of town. But part of the joy of friendship is its indefinable quality. There is simply no predicting when you might meet a kindred spirit. Some of the most beautiful friendships might also be the most unexpected. This was certainly my experience when, at one of the lowest points of my life, I made one of my closest friends. Si papá y yo nos preocupamos, nunca fue porque no tengamos tiempo para ti o porque no te queramos muchísimo. Eiin?? He disfrutado mucho de esta novela, que es de este tipo de lecturas que la vas saboreando porque te gusta el estilo en el que se desenvuelve la autora, inteligente e irónica, y al mismo tiempo te mantiene enganchada, pero enganchada no de una forma tramposa, sino que Elizabeth Day mantiene el ritmo con una destreza poco habitual, ya que lo habitual es que los autores mantengan el enganche del lector con trampas varias y estiramientos de chicle, pero éste no es el caso.La narración comienza con un interrogatorio en la comisaria por un supuesto accidente en la fiesta de cumpleaños de Ben, a partir de ahí se va desgranando toda la vida de los tres personajes y conocemos mejor a los tres, sus deseos, sus intereses, esa amistad que parecía superar todos los obstáculos y que resulta ser solo una pantalla. This is where we see Martin begin making his first excuses for Ben, something he continues to do through the entire novel.