Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12135 in Books
• Published on: 1999-05-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Lisa Jewell lives in North London. While on holiday a friend made her a drunken bet: dinner at her favourite restaurant if she wrote three chapters of a novel. Just over a year later Ralph's Party was finished. In a similar style to Marian Keyes' Rachel’s Holiday, Ralph’s Party introduces the residents of 31 Almanac Road, a three-storey Edwardian house in South London. The house, divided into flats and its inhabitants are the focus of this contemporary, romantic novel. Ralph and Smith, who live in the basement flat are beginning to doubt that they will ever find a suitable flatmate until Jemima comes along. In fact, Jem finds herself more than suitable when both Ralph and Smith fall for her. Karl and Siobhan live in the flat above and they have been together in total happiness for fifteen years. That was until Cheri, the cold, calculating but very sexy lady in the top flat sets her sights on Karl.

Lisa Jewell’s fast paced, well-observed and thoroughly engrossing first novel has been well worth that bet for dinner. --Pat Naylor

Synopsis
Meet the residents of 31 Almanac Road Ralph and Smith are flatmates and best mates until, that is, the gorgeous Jemima moves in. And suddenly they're bickering about a lot more than who drank the last beer. Of course, Jem knows that one of them is the man for her but is it Ralph or Smith? Upstairs, Karl and Siobhan have been happily unmarried for fifteen years until, that is, Cheri moves into the flat above theirs. Cheri's got her eye on Karl and doesn't see why she should let a little thing like his girlfriend stand in her way Sooner or later its all got to come to a head and what better place for tears and laughter, break ups and make ups than Ralph's party?

From the Author
Sex, Romance, Destiny ... or just flatmates?
Meet the residents of 31 Almanac Road in a romantic, engrossing novel that takes you up the garden path, through the front door and into the most intimate parts of other people's lives.

Ralph and Smith are best friends. Until they both fall for Jem, their new flatmate. Jem's got a strong feeling that one of them's the man for her - but which one?

Karl and Siobhan live in the flat above. Happily unmarried for fifteen years, it looks as if nothing could spoil their domestic idyll.

Except maybe Cheri, the femme fatale in the top flat. She's got her eye on Karl and she isn't about to let his fat girlfriend stand in her way ...

Ralph's Party is my first novel. I was a newly-redundant secretary on holiday in 1996 when my friend Yasmin made me a drunken bet around the swimming pool at four in the morning - if I wrote just the first three chapters of the novel I was convinced I had inside in me (aren't we all?!) she would take me for dinner to my favourite restaurant.

Never one to renege on a bet, I did it. And look what happened! I am now a full-time writer, working at home on my second novel, Dig and Delilah which will be out next May.

Beyond my wildest dreams ...

However, I'm still waiting for Yasmin to take me out for dinner.

If you like Ralph's Party, - and I really hope you do - please - don't lend it to your friends - make them buy their own!

Customer Reviews

very disappointing
I bought this because I'd so many good things about it, but I thougth the ending was dreadfuklly disappointing and there was nothing amusing, engaging or memorable about it. I have much preferred this writer's other books.

disappointing ending
I enjoyed the book in patches but I didn't like it as a whole and I thought the ending was really disappointing. I won't spoil it by saying what happens, but I promise you that it's not worth waiting for. The disappointing ending ruined it for me.

Sharp and lively with a disappointing ending
This book is quite varied, at times funny, philosophical, romantic and coarse. This is better than the relentless breeziness of other chicklit, but the mixture only partly works. The central trio are interesting, but as Smith's character is developed his long friendship with Ralph becomes less convincing rather than more. The long passages about Siobhan's dislike of her own body are trying, and every time I saw that a new chapter concerned her and Karl I felt bored. To avoid giving the ending away, I won't explain exactly what was disappointing about it, but the author seems to have felt uncertain about whether she was writing a romantic comedy or a more realistic novel without having found an interesting solution.