THE DINNER PARTY

Set between London, The Netherlands, and Berlin, this intense, gripping debut novel explores the limits and power of love and autonomy, grief and female rage, and the surprising moments when they come to the surface, set over the course of one afternoon, charting a dinner party from its careful preparation to explosive finish.

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. Setting the story up as a dual narrative (the main thread of which is set over one afternoon leading up to the dinner party, and the second set five months down the line, reflecting on that one evening and its explosive finish), Viola van de Sandt expertly weaves the past and present, playing with memory and using the mystery of the unfolding dinner party as a clever device to pull the reader through. Viola van de Sandt has degrees in journalism, comparative literature and English literature from King's College, London. A draft of a previous novel was longlisted in the 2019 Mslexia novel competition. She lives in The Netherlands.