Don’t let the title
confuse you -- Brenda Janowitz’s The
Dinner Party only features an actual “dinner party” for half of the
novel. The other half is all about the
repercussions of the drama-filled evening, where the amount of secret-keeping
borders on the ridiculous.
Sylvia Gold is having the
Passover Seder at her house, which she knows will be attended by two of her
three children and their significant others -- Sarah and Joe and Becca and
Henry. Sylvia doesn’t think that Joe is
good enough for Sarah. He has just taken over his father’s mechanic shop, and
Sylvia wants more for her daughter. To
make matters worse, Joe’s overbearing mother, Valentina, will also be at the
meal. Henry is Becca’s new boyfriend,
and he is a member of the Rothschilds, a very important bank-controlling
family. Sylvia whips herself into a
frenzy making sure that everything is perfect for the dinner since Henry’s
parents will also be attending.
During the meal, there are
surprise guests, and the secrets come out fast and furious. It’s like one giant episode of Days of Our Lives. The night ends with Sylvia being infuriated
with her children, and the reader can see the ending coming from a mile away.
There are books like Cutting for Stone and Middlesex that are multi-layered and
thought provoking. The Dinner Party isn’t one of those books, but it really wasn’t
meant to be. However, the plot and
writing are filled with clichés that don’t need to be in any book, even a chick
lit novel. Your time is probably better spent
elsewhere.
