In Which We Discuss Ralph's Party

So, I finally got started on my Lisa Jewell campaign.

I first read Ralph's Party several years ago. At the time, the drug use really bothered me. I think I was about fourteen, and I just wasn't used to a world in which drug use was so casual. I'm still not a huge fan of them, but now I barely bat an eyelid. It's not like Kilo where the entire point is drug use - it's just people who occasionally smoke weed. And, at one point, cocaine.

As well as being the first Lisa Jewell book I read, this is also the first one she wrote. It began as a bet, much like Frankenstein, or Ozymandias (although, of course, they were challenges between writers, and this was a bet so, as the story goes, Jewell didn't spend all her time on the dole being depressed).

Ralph's Party is about a large house in London, split into flats were five people live, with another moving in at the beginning. In the basement flat, Ralph and Smith are best friends with nothing in common, who are looking for a new flatmate. They get Jem, short and sparky, who believes the flat is her destiny.

In the middle flat live Siobhan and Karl, who have been together for years. They're quite happy, for a given measure of happiness.

Finally, on the top floor, there is Cheri, a blonde, beautiful ice queen.

I'm about halfway through my reread now, so that's all I'll say about this one at the minute. Here's the rest of the list, in order;

Ralph's Party (1999)
Thirtynothing (2000)
One Hit Wonder (2001)
A Friend of the Family (2004)
Vince and Joy (2005)
31 Dream Street (2007)
The Truth About Melody Browne (2009)