The Party Crasher

by Sophie Kinsella

Check them off your list—the elements you anticipate in a Sophie Kinsella novel. You will find them in The Party Crasher.

1. A wacky, but lovable protagonist: Effie (AKA Euphemia or Ephelant).
2. Interesting setting: Greenoaks isn’t just any old house. It’s amazing. It has character. It has a turret! It has a stained-glass window. Visitors often call it “eccentric” or quirky” or just exclaim, “Wow!”
3. Broken romantic relationship: What happened to Joe years ago that he would just drop Effie without an explanation?
4. Dysfunctional family: Mimi, the beloved stepmother, and Dad have an announcement one Christmas that changes everyone’s life.
5. Siblings: Bean, the always positive peacemaker, and Gus who is clearly unhappy in his relationship with the domineering Romilly.
6. Mystery: Where are the missing Russian stacking dolls?
7. A house-cooling party: Doesn’t everyone have one when they move?
8. A gold-digger or two: Perhaps the flashy Krista and/or her flirty sister Lacey?
9. Humor in both situations and characters: Maybe a protagonist dressed in black sneaking through her own house with a little Mission Impossible music thrown in for good measure?

I enjoyed The Party Crasher, and I recommend it for light-hearted fun with a background of serious themes and issues.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 4/5

Category: General Fiction, Women’s Fiction

Notes: Includes some casual swearing

Publication: October 12, 2021—Dial Press (Random House)

Memorable Lines:

For all that I loved him, I never got to the core of Joe. I never reached his innermost Russian doll. He always kept a part of himself locked well away.

I had no idea my brother and sister were so secretive and duplicitous. I’m shocked and I will tell them so, at some point, when I’m not hiding from them under the console table.

She sounds cynical. Her face is tight and jaded. She looks as if her expectations of life have sunk so low, she’s not going to bother having any anymore.