The Party

By: Elizabeth Day

Narrated by: Greg Wagland, Stephanie Racine

AN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR

A gripping story of betrayal, privilege and hypocrisy, set in the unassailable heart of the British establishment.

‘A terrifying, hilarious, brilliantly written original with a wit to die for’ Phoebe Waller-Bridge

‘As the train pressed on, I realised that my life was in the process of taking a different direction, plotted according to a new constellation. Because, although I didn't know it yet, I was about to meet Ben and nothing would ever be the same again.’

Martin Gilmour is an outsider. When he wins a scholarship to Burtonbury School, he doesn’t wear the right clothes or speak with the right kind of accent. But then he meets the dazzling, popular and wealthy Ben Fitzmaurice, and gains admission to an exclusive world. Soon Martin is enjoying tennis parties and Easter egg hunts at the Fitzmaurice family’s estate, as Ben becomes the brother he never had.

But Martin has a secret. He knows something about Ben, something he will never tell. It is a secret that will bind the two of them together for the best part of 25 years.

At Ben’s 40th birthday party, the great and the good of British society are gathering to celebrate in a haze of champagne, drugs and glamour. Amid the hundreds of guests – the politicians, the celebrities, the old-money and newly rich – Martin once again feels that disturbing pang of not-quite belonging. His wife, Lucy, has her reservations too. There is disquiet in the air. But Ben wouldn’t do anything to damage their friendship.

Would he?

‘The twists and turns that the novel takes are never predictable and the novel becomes as unsettling as it is involving. One of those books that a person reads in one day because you absolutely have to know how it turns out’ John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

©2017 Elizabeth Day (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

‘Think Brideshead Revisited meets The Talented Mr Ripley with a dash of The Riot Club. I couldn't put it down’ Louise O’Neill, author of Asking For It

‘An exhilarating and gripping psychological thriller about obsession, betrayal, jealousy and class distinctions. Elizabeth Day’s writing is impeccable, suspenseful and clever. I couldn’t put this down!’ Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

‘Superb – clever, gripping, psychologically acute’ Laura Barnett, author of The Versions of Us

‘What will probably be my book of the year … I loved it’ Sinead Crowley, Irish Independent

'Fast out of the traps, compelling and infinitely believable: but what really got me about The Party was the writing. Stunning' Susie Steiner, author of Missing, Presumed

‘A well-paced slow-burner of a literary thriller – think Donna Tartt’s The Secret History or Alan Hollinghurst’s The Line of Beauty… The Party is a gripping page-turner’ Observer

‘Devious, witty, thrilling' Refinery 29

‘Skilfully constructed, suspenseful narrative … It’s a smart, wittily written riff on class, privilege and power’ Mail on Sunday

‘Echoes of The Secret History and The Talented Mr Ripley thrum through Elizabeth Day’s pacey fourth novel… jolly fun’ Sunday Times

'A sharp, stylish and witty as the perfect guest. Beware: you'll be up far too late’ Lucie Whitehouse, author of Before We Met

‘Elizabeth Day's latest novel is sinister and seductive and nothing short of breathtaking’ Francesca Seagal, author of The Innocents

‘This is a dark and compelling book of lifelong obsessions, jealousies and neuroses … I left this book wanting to read more of Day’s other work’ Guardian

‘I can’t recommend it highly enough’ Aine Toner, Women’s Way

‘The Party is a compelling read, but it’s a lot more than a page turner… We may have seen a hundred stories like this on the news, but Elizabeth Day’s perfectly pitched dialogue and vivid prose brings it all to life’ Catherine Chanter, author of The Well