Since winter is being stubborn and treating everyone to unnecessary cold snaps, it’s not exactly the best time to be out and about. It is, however, undeniably perfect weather for curling up with a marshmallow-topped mug of hot cocoa and a good book.
In the case of this week’s NovelTEA, that “good book” is Robyn Harding’s The Party; a domestic drama that blends a parent’s worst nightmare with a teenager’s unrealized fears. Kim and Jeff Sanders have the picture-perfect life: a beautiful home, fast cars, a longstanding marriage, and two model children. Kim has agreed to let Hannah— an obedient good girl with obedient good friends— host a slumber party for her sweet sixteenth. But that silly sleepover quickly turns into a horror movie penned by the likes of Janis Ian (before Regina gets hit by a bus).
Quickly, the Sanders’s are shoved under a spotlight, their lives under a microscope, and the image of perfection unravels to reveal a dark, seedy underbelly full of secrets and regrets.
I loved this book. With the exception of 13-year-old Aidan (a relatively minor character in a deceptively complex story), every member of the Sanders family is thoroughly unlikeable.
Matriarch Kim is absolutely insufferable; a shrill, image-obsessed “Supermom” with a bad superiority complex (she makes it a point to make sure she is always the better mom/woman in a room, and she’s positively giddy over other people’s perceived failures, whether they feed their child Kraft Dinner or are actually having a nice life not dictated by what other people think).
Kim is the type of obnoxious person who doesn’t realize just how awful she is, gleefully setting her relationships on fire because she doesn’t know how to stop. At one point, perhaps she did care for her children, but now her reputation demands that she, her husband, and her kids are polished to a shine at every moment of every day. Her marriage is a slowly-rotting ship, barely staying afloat under the weight of her own hypocrisy and her husband’s resentment.
Her husband, Jeff, the VP of Global Strategy at a tech company, has been trapped under Kim’s thumb for 18 years, and is chafing at the bit for an identity away from her. Because he is an idiot, this identity comes in the form of a “Cool Dad,” but in reality, he’s just a cringey coward, who is rightfully aware that Kim keeps his balls in the pricey designer bag he bought her— and no wonder. Without Kim’s influence, he would probably be in jail for something or other, flipped as a witness for the state and casually skulking around until he’s inevitably tangled in some sort of slimy situation again.
Meanwhile, high-achiever Hannah is basically a Kim Clone when it comes down to it— throughout The Party, there are a lot of chances for Hannah to prove herself as someone who cares more about doing the right thing than preserving her social status, and there are so many times when, as a reader, you can see her almost, sort of, reaching for the right thing, but . . . Well, she might get better, she might not, or she might fall somewhere in-between. I’m not telling you, then you wouldn’t read the book.
The Party is a slow-simmering story of karma, and if you’re someone who likes to read about not-great people getting their just desserts for being not great, this one’s for you. Harding has a natural gift for this sort of dynamic, because most of the time I was rooting for the Sanders’s downfall, but sometimes, the “villain” that’s against them stepped over the line, and I wasn’t sure what was fair, and what was excessive.
The only thing that made me stop in my tracks and swipe all the way left was the ending. If not for that, I’d be over-the-moon with The Party, and I was still so impressed that I’ve just bought Harding’s newest book, Her Pretty Face. Will I read it before the bitter winter of 2019 rolls into the unknown winter of 2020? Who knows, honestly, I have a book-buying problem.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
Recipe: Shrimp Kale Caesar Salad
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