The Dinner Party by Viola van de Sandt

A profoundly confronting novel which consumed me whole... tender, astonishing and unflinching 'Lucy Rose, author of the Sunday Times bestseller The Lamb I remember everything that happened in those three minutes at the beginning of the evening, him and me in the kitchen. That, and what happened at the end: the knife, and what I did with it.

Franca left the Netherlands behind to start her new life in England with Andrew. Andrew, whose parents lived in South Kensington but had a flat their son could 'borrow' nearby. Andrew, an old-fashioned British gentleman, who encourages her not to work but to instead focus on her writing.

Andrew who suggests a dinner party with his colleagues to celebrate their big upcoming launch. A dinner party that Franca must plan and shop and cook and clean for. A dinner party during a heatwave, when the fridge breaks, alcohol replaces water and an unexpected guest joins their ranks.

A dinner party where everything she once was and everything she now is comes together and she feels like she might implode.