After the Party: A Novel

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Language
English

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"Lisa Jewell’s writing is like a big warm hug. After the Party is a touching, insightful, and gripping story which I simply couldn’t put down." —Sophie Kinsella From the New York Times bestselling author of None of This Is True comes an irresistible novel about the power of starting over.Eleven years ago, Jem Catterick and Ralph McLeary fell deeply in love. They thought it would be forever, that they’d found their happy ending. As everyone agreed, they were the perfect couple. Then two became four, and an apartment became a house. Romantic nights out became sleepless nights in. And they soon found that life wasn’t quite so simple anymore. But through it all, Jem and Ralph still loved each other. Of course they did. Now Jem is back at work part-time as a talent agent. Ralph, a successful painter, is struggling to come up with new, hopefully groundbreaking, work for his upcoming show. But the unimaginable has happened. Two people who were so right together are starting to drift apart. And in the chaos of family life, Jem feels like she’s losing herself, while Ralph, stuck on the sidelines, feels like he’s lost his muse altogether. Something has to change. As they try to find a way back to each other, back to what they once had, they both become momentarily distracted—but maybe it’s not too late to recapture happily ever after…

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Contributors
Duff, Helen Narrator
Jewell, Lisa Author
ISBN
9781666573817
9781451609127

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Lisa Jewell and Nick Hornby have a knack for warm, engaging novels that, despite their discussion of life's tougher moments, maintain an generally upbeat tone, occasionally dipping into the bittersweet. Both authors feature witty dialogue and engaging, complex protagonists who navigate the murky waters of romance, career, marriage, and heartbreak. -- Mike Nilsson
Both Lisa Jewell and Sophie Hannah are masters of intricate plotting who write novels centering around suburban British families caught up in highly unusual or suspicious circumstances. While Hannah's psychological suspense stories often split narratives between police and civilians, Jewell's mysteries tend to focus on crime victims and suspects. -- Alicia Cavitt
Both Liane Moriarty and Lisa Jewell write involving novels centering on flawed characters who find themselves in increasingly suspicious situations. Filled with an underlying tension, the plots build slowly as the story unpeels layers of secrets that culminate in the final surprising reveal. -- Halle Carlson
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Published Reviews

Booklist Review

In the long-awaited follow-up to Ralph's Party (2000), a couple navigates both the smooth sailing and the turbulent waters of their relationship as it careens from initial attraction to intense parenting and from big dreams to mundane realities, with all the growing pains two people in love could possibly experience. Jem and Ralph's first appearance as carefree young people almost ready to launch into real life has now become that real life, complete with dirty diapers, momentous career decisions, and looming personal concerns neither particularly wants to address. Certain of their love and their entwined lives, they have ignored the impending signs of interpersonal crisis until it's almost too late. With two young children, Ralph decides he needs a break. He flees to California and an old pal, while Jem stays in England with the children and the burgeoning possibility of a new direction she never imagined was possible. Flipping between their perspectives and illuminating their desires, fears, and sometimes clumsy actions, the story entertainingly marches its characters along the path to finally growing up.--Trevelyan, Juli. Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
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Publisher's Weekly Review

Jewell carves out a dreary universe of resentment, loneliness, and barely hidden rage for the couple she first introduced in Ralph's Party. After 11 years and two kids together (but no marriage), public relations agent Jem and artist Ralph discover they've become, not so surprisingly, different people, and are miserable together. The familiar is livened up with some engaging distractions for the needy pair. For Ralph, it's a trip to California to visit old pal Smith and his gorgeous girlfriend, Rosey, a Christian rocker. For Jem, there's secretive and somber Joel and his hot 25-year-old son, Lucas, both of whom she admires from afar and then closes in for a brush with intimacy while Ralph is busy locating his artistic mojo. While careening toward what could be certain splitsville, Jem and Ralph doggedly cling to the impossible dream of a conventional happy ending. Jewell manages a breezy traipse through some turgid terrain, thanks mostly to a solid cast who bring a freshness to a stale setup. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
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Kirkus Book Review

Twelve years after their romance inspired the chick-lit bestsellerRalph's Party, a London couple is driven apart by misunderstanding and miscommunication.New readers won't have much difficulty catching up with Ralph and Jem's history thanks to Jewell's (Roommates Wanted, 2008, etc.) capable interweaving of older events into the contemporary narrative recording the ebbing of intimacy. So what drained the passion away from this perfectly matched pair? Nothing more exceptional than domesticity, kids and slow, silent withdrawal. Ralph still paints pictures in the attic and Jem works part-time as a celebrity agent, but, despite their enduring love, this couple doesn't talk. He's never confessed his unwillingness to have a second child, and she's filled with unspoken resentment at his lack of support. Plus, she's gone off sex. Ralph takes a surprise holiday in Santa Monica and comes home strangely different. Jem, meanwhile, has befriended a local single father whose behavior arouses Ralph's suspicions. 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.The not-so-happily-ever-after is neatly dissected in an engaging if ephemeral sequel.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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Booklist Reviews

In the long-awaited follow-up to Ralph's Party (2000), a couple navigates both the smooth sailing and the turbulent waters of their relationship as it careens from initial attraction to intense parenting and from big dreams to mundane realities, with all the growing pains two people in love could possibly experience. Jem and Ralph's first appearance as carefree young people almost ready to launch into real life has now become that real life, complete with dirty diapers, momentous career decisions, and looming personal concerns neither particularly wants to address. Certain of their love and their entwined lives, they have ignored the impending signs of interpersonal crisis until it's almost too late. With two young children, Ralph decides he needs a break. He flees to California and an old pal, while Jem stays in England with the children and the burgeoning possibility of a new direction she never imagined was possible. Flipping between their perspectives and illuminating their desires, fears, and sometimes clumsy actions, the story entertainingly marches its characters along the path to finally growing up. Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews.

Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews.
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Publishers Weekly Reviews

Jewell carves out a dreary universe of resentment, loneliness, and barely hidden rage for the couple she first introduced in Ralph's Party. After 11 years and two kids together (but no marriage), public relations agent Jem and artist Ralph discover they've become, not so surprisingly, different people, and are miserable together. The familiar is livened up with some engaging distractions for the needy pair. For Ralph, it's a trip to California to visit old pal Smith and his gorgeous girlfriend, Rosey, a Christian rocker. For Jem, there's secretive and somber Joel and his hot 25-year-old son, Lucas, both of whom she admires from afar and then closes in for a brush with intimacy while Ralph is busy locating his artistic mojo. While careening toward what could be certain splitsville, Jem and Ralph doggedly cling to the impossible dream of a conventional happy ending. Jewell manages a breezy traipse through some turgid terrain, thanks mostly to a solid cast who bring a freshness to a stale setup. (Aug.)

[Page ]. Copyright 2010 PWxyz LLC

Copyright 2010 PWxyz LLC
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