The Party by Elizabeth Day

This has been my favourite book of this year so far. Such a well crafted novel, compelling enough to pull you through and a very good read. I enjoyed it so much from the first page till the end.

 This is a story shaped in the form of two diaries, one is Martin's and the other belongs to his wife, Lucy. It reminded me of Brideshed Revisited and The Greater Gatsby, but better written. I also loved the way the book shifts between Martin's police interrogation, his childhood memories, his school years and the time he met Ben and of course the party itself, the key event of our story. Lucy's diary entries scattered throughout the book helped me as a reader to see, feel and under how misplaced they were feeling as part of this so called friendship with Ben and Serena. She was the only one who could see Ben and Serena for what they were, manipulative , selfish and self centered. I spent so much time trying to figure out what kind of a character Martin is: a psychopath, madly and obsessively in love with Ben. What was it that made him go on lying to himself and increase his obsession for Ben. I tried to relate all this to his unhappy childhood, the negative presence of his mother and this ongoing desire to be liked and accepted by others. It's a novel that I truly recommended to you all!