After the Party
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A captivating novel of manners that tells the story of a dark and disturbing period of British history, by a master storyteller.
It is the summer of 1938 and Phyllis Forrester has returned to England after years abroad. Moving into her sister’s grand country house, she soon finds herself entangled in a new world of idealistic beliefs and seemingly innocent friendships. Fevered talk of another war infiltrates their small, privileged circle, giving way to a thrilling solution: the appointment of a great and charismatic new leader who will restore England to its former glory.
At a party hosted by her new friends, Phyllis lets down her guard for a single moment, with devastating consequences. Years later, Phyllis, alone and embittered, recounts the dramatic events which led to her imprisonment and changed the course of her life forever.
Powerful, poignant, and exquisitely observed, After the Party is an illuminating portrait of a dark period of British history which has yet to be fully acknowledged.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Connolly (The Happiest Days) goes back to pre-WWII England in this eye-opening drama of class division and political opposition to war. In 1938, Phyllis Forrester; her husband, Hugh; and their three children, 14-year-old Julia, 12-year-old Frances, and youngest Edwin return to England after three years abroad. While they look for a home of their own, they stay with Phyllis's sister Patricia; her husband, Greville; and their daughter and settle into the Sussex social scene. Patricia and Greville introduce Phyllis and Hugh to their aristocratic friends at dinner parties; Patricia and Phyllis's sister Nina enlists Phyllis's help at a local summer camp that Julia, Frances, and Edwin attend. Nina also gets Phyllis and Hugh involved in local political action, advocating for British restraint in entering into another war. Their involvement in the Party Peace Campaign results in Phyllis and Hugh's arrest. Despite efforts by Greville to use his connections to get Phyllis and Hugh released and the fact they are not convicted of any crime, they are forced to endure difficult detainment conditions. Phyllis desperately misses her children and hopes for a future when she can be reunited with them. Phyllis's nuanced first-person narration is nicely juxtaposed against the fast-paced narrative. Connolly skillfully chronicles some of the little-known consequences to those opposed to Britain's involvement in WWII, resulting in a vivid, introspective tale.
