The Dinner Party: A Novel [Hardcover]

For fans ofCleopatra and Frankenstein and Assembly, an intimate and darkly propulsive story told over the course of a dinner party, from its careful preparation through its explosive, irrevocable finish, about the tensions of love and autonomy, grief and female rage, and the surprising moments when they come crashing to the surface.

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, upending the careful balance between everything Franca once was and now is ...

Expertly weaving the past and present with precision and delicious tension,The Dinner Partyis a thoughtful and thought-provoking look at female rage, body autonomy, and all the concessions women make throughout their livesbig and smalluntil the surprising moment when they decide they can make them no longer.

Viola van de Sandthas 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. 
 One of Lit Hub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2025
 
“Raw, compassionate, and compelling—what a beautiful world we live in where a book can be messy and tender all at once."Lit Hub“[A] powerful story of a woman’s suppressed rage that manifests over the course of one disastrous evening. . . . Raw emotion andls+