"A remarkable Irish family saga about the messiness of modern family life—a major debut from a blazing new talent that's already an international sensation
'Sarah Gilmartin gives us terrific, complex characters and strong themes, in prose that is charged with insight.' —Anne Enright
A riveting, beautifully written, and poignant coming-of-age story about the heartrending complications of sibling relationships and the trauma of family secrets, perfect for fans of Kate Atkinson, Maggie O'Farrell, and Anne Enright.
Kate has taught herself to be careful, to be meticulous.
To mark the anniversary of a death in the family, she plans a dinner party—from the fancy table settings to the perfect Baked Alaska waiting in the freezer. Yet by the end of the night, old tensions have flared, the guests have fled, and Kate is spinning out of control.
But all we have is ourselves, her father once said, all we have is family.
Set between the 1990s and the present day, from a farmhouse in Carlow to Trinity College, Dublin, Dinner Party is a dark, sharply observed debut told with sharp, elegant humor that thrillingly unravels into family secrets and tragedy."
"The waitress, the chef, and the chef's wife may all lovingly describe the food, but they agree on little else as their three voices reveal a story of power and complicity, and the courage it takes to face the truth.
When Hannah learns that famed chef Daniel Costello is facing accusations of sexual assault, she's thrown back to the summer she spent waitressing at his high-end Dublin restaurant when she was a young college student—the plush splendor of the dining rooms, the wild parties after service, the sizzling tension of the kitchens. But Hannah also remembers how the attention from Daniel soon morphed from kindness into something darker.
Now the restaurant is shuttered and Daniel tries to understand how his life is now completely out of his control. His wife Julie is hiding from paparazzi, trying to come to terms with the legal case while suddenly questioning her life and marriage as she attempts to protect her two sons.
Surrounded by the wreckage of the past, Daniel, Julie, and Hannah must reconsider what happened at the restaurant.
Beautifully written and told in three voices, this novel explores uncomfortable truths about our changing social norms with nuance and complexity."
