The Party by Elizabeth Day: book review

The Party (2017) is set in Oxfordshire, England, in May 2015.

Something happened at Ben Fitzmaurice’s 40th birthday party in Tipworth Priory, where there were hundreds of high-society guests.

Thirty-nine-year-old Martin Gilmour and his wife Lucy attended Ben’s party. Martin has been Ben’s best friend since school days – ‘Ben’s little shadow’ – LS.’ Yet Martin feels like an outsider. Martin doesn’t fit into Ben’s wealthy, exclusive world. But Ben had become the brother Martin never had.

Martin is a chameleon, changing his personality and clothes to fit each situation. Lucy was always the epitome of politeness, but Martin had noticed a recent ‘cutting tone.’

Martin had a secret about Ben, something that kept them closely connected for the past 25 years. At the party, Ben has a secret about Martin.

Then there is the incident at the party. Will Martin tell the police about Ben, or will Ben tell the police about Martin? As Lucy knows, Ben and his wife Serena had a specifc reason for wanting her and Martin at the house before the party: ‘They had a game plan.’

Through flashbacks, and Lucy’s written response to the police investigation, readers learn about Martin and Ben’s long friendship. They also learn about Ben’s wife Serena, Ben’s sister Felicity (Fliss), Andrew Jarvis, Vicky Dillane, and Gilly Rawlings.

This is a novel about a long unbalanced but entangled friendship, loyalty and betrayal, privilege and envy, arrogance and hypocrisy. Although slow in parts, the novel will sustain readers to the end.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog