THE SMASH-HIT STORY OF LOVE, FRIENDS AND FLATSHARES TURNS 25

Meet the residents of 31 Alamanac Road . . .

Ralph and Smith are flatmates and best mates. Nothing can come between them – until the gorgeous Jemima moves in. They’re both falling for her, but which one of them does Jem want?

Upstairs, Karl and Siobhan are happily unmarried and have been for fifteen years – until Cheri, in the flat above, fixes her sights on Karl. Why should a little problem like his girlfriend get in her way?

Sooner or later it’s all going to come to a head – and what better place for tears and laughter, break ups and make ups than Ralph’s party?

Ralph’s Party has been re-released for its 25th Anniversary. I read the book many years ago and it was great to revisit it as I had forgotten some bits of the story.

Ralph and Smith are best friends as well as flatmates who live at 31 Almanac Road in London. All is well until Jem moves in and both Ralph and Smith have taken a fancy to her. With both of them vying for her things get interesting and we learn more about the characters, but which guy, if any, will Jem Choose?

Also living in the building complex we have Karl and Siobhan, who are not happy with their 15-year relationship. They are not married and seem to be going through the everyday motions of being together. When Cheri moves in, there seems to be more to her than meets the eye and Karl looks very interested in her.

We follow the lives of the residents in the building and the build-up to Ralph’s party that sees everyone’s secrets revealed. With twists and turns galore and an explosive ending, this is a book not to be missed. The story has a great mixture of loveable and not so characters. Lisa Jewell’s writing style is fresh and I have loved her work since this first novel and she remains one of my go-to authors.

If you love this book there is a sequel called After the Party which I am yet to read but it is certainly on my must-read list.

Lisa Jewell’s first novel, Ralph’s Party, was published in 1999 and was the best-selling debut novel of the year. Since then she has published another twenty-one novels, most lately a number of dark psychological thrillers, including Then She Was Gone, The Family Upstairs and None of This is True.

Lisa is a number one New York Times and Sunday Times author who has sold over ten million books worldwide and been published in over thirty languages. She lives in north London with her husband, two daughters and a lovely dog called Daisy.