After the Party: The page-turning sequel to Ralph’s Party from the bestselling author

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There are many great things about this book—one of them is its constant stream of memorably formulated insights about Alaska. Slowly they realise that their ideal family life that they viewed all those years ago through rose tinted glasses is nothing like their present reality. Ralph comes back from California determined to help Jem out more with the kids but Jem is pre-occupied with thoughts of Joel and it appears that Jem and Ralph, instead of becoming closer, are moving further and further apart.

Will they make it through or will they be like the thousands of others that have tried and failed to make a marriage work. Ralph wants to live a single life without the family intruding until he doesn’t after his Damascene conversion in the States. It is the unmistakable sound of her firstborn clattering down the stripped floorboarded stairs in her pink Lucite Barbie Princess slippers.

As a wife and mother myself I really felt for Jem and found myself nodding along with her thoughts - although not her actions! And before the scruffy woman with the fat cats, a young couple with matching bikes and raincoats had lived here. Lisa Jewell's first novel, Ralph’s Party, was published in 1999 and was the best-selling debut novel of the year.

He’s never confessed his unwillingness to have a second child, and she’s filled with unspoken resentment at his lack of support.

It was so forced that it was evident (reinforcing the Acknowledgments by the author at the beginning of the book) that this book was written for monetary purposes and not because there was a legitimate concept of what happened to these two characters. They share the children and Jem's career blossoms as well as her health and a fling with a younger man. It tells the story of Ralph and Jem and how their relationship develops 'after the party', how they are both struggling to adapt to their new roles as parents and how they start to suffer with self doubt about how much the other one still loves them. He pauses and Jem can hear the swoosh of other cars passing his, the blast of wind through an open window.

This is a sequel to a book I haven't yet read, and I suspect I wouldn't like as much, because After the Party isn't about finding love but keeping it.The book begins with a prologue, set in the present year, before being split into multiple parts set mainly in the year that causes Jem and Ralph to think about taking a break from each other until we ourselves come up to the breaking point in Jem and Ralph’s relationship. My favourite characters were Scarlett and Blake(Jem and Ralphs children) A lot happened to Jem and Ralph throughout the book and it was enjoyable to see what they'd become after been together 11 years and two children later. This book was rather different to the ones I'd read before; which wasn't a problem at all and I enjoyed it. Lulu has her two boys, Jared and Theo, and her husband’s three older boys from his first marriage, who live here most of the time because their mother lives in Grenada.

SUMMARY: Jem Catterick and Ralph McLeary fell in love eleven years ago after Ralph finally convinced her his love was real. Ralph can be exasperating but grows as a person and Jem is like a little saint, always marching on and doing her best for the children, but then she also has flaws and makes many mistakes that snowball. I think After The Party could be confronting for readers who prefer a happy ever after ending but comforting for those who are at, or have been at, a similar crossroads in their relationship. A year after their problems started, Ralph goes AWOL and Jem is frantic to figure out what is going on with him.After the Party tells us what happens next, shattering the illusion of happy ever after with the reality of the responsibilities of a long term relationship. She worries about Ralph, they never talk anymore, but she is finding out who she is not attached to him.