The Party Crasher (by Sophie Kinsella)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s over 15 years since I put aside my irrational bias against ‘chick-lit’ novels, and tried one by Sophie Kinsella. I liked it so much that, over the years, I have acquired many more of her books. She’s best known for the ‘Shopaholic’ series, and also writes rather raunchier novels under a pseudonym. But the ‘Kinsella’ books are, in my view, well-written, amusing, and with likeable (if slightly caricatured) people.

So when I saw ‘The Party Crasher’ on special offer for the Kindle last summer, it was an easy decision to download it. I don’t use my Kindle much when I’m at home, but I was recently on a four-hour flight, preceded by about three hours at an airport. So, as the previous book I read had been rather heavy I decided to try ‘The Party Crasher’, hoping for something light and distracting.

I was not disappointed. 

The main, viewpoint character is a women in her early twenties called Effie. She has two older siblings: Bean and Guy. They’re actually quite a bit older, and can remember their mother who died when Effie was just three. Their father remarried a woman called Mimi who was fun and creative, and who was the only mother Effie knew. So they’re quite close. 

As the youngest in the family, despite having reached adulthood and left home, Effie has been very much protected by her older siblings. So when an announcement is made just before Christmas, she is totally unprepared.  

That’s all covered in the first chapter. 

The action then moves forward a couple of years. A lot has changed, and the family home - which is huge, and full of quirks - is to be sold. There’s going to be a ‘cooling down’ party, and Effie learns that she hasn’t been invited. She’s hurt and angry, but the relationship with her father has become very strained, and she decides that she won’t go anywhere near the house. Then she remembers her set of Russian stacking dolls which went everywhere with her as a child. She recalls hiding them, and is desperate to retrieve them…

Most of the story then involves Effie’s efforts to sneak into the party when everyone else is busy, grab her dolls, and get out. Unsurprisingly, given the book’s title, nothing goes to plan. The subsequent actions and confusions are almost reminiscent of a Shakespearean comedy of errors. It’s very cleverly done; I could imagine the scenes, and had no idea what was going to happen next. I almost laughed aloud a couple of times.

There’s a low-key love story alongside Effie’s ‘mission’, involving her best friend from childhood, Joe. We learn early in the book that they broke up, and that her heart was broken; it’s not until towards that end that the truth is uncovered. 

I was perhaps a tad unconvinced by some of the revelations and changes towards the end: there are plenty of twists, some more believable than others. I suppose it’s a mark of a well-drawn three-dimensional character when a reader thinks, ‘No… surely she wouldn’t do that?’ and when more than one person turned out to have an unexpected site to their character, I couldn’t quite reconcile it.  

I also cringed at the fate of a couple of violins. 

But other than those fairly minor quibbles, I thought this an excellent read, perfect for a dull flight. And it’s not all fluffy. There are some important issues that are covered sensitively. For instance: the need for honesty; the importance of communication; the inevitable breakdown of some relationships; the dangers of jumping to conclusions. 

I would recommend ‘The Party Crasher’ to anyone who likes light-hearted stories with believable people (on the whole) and a plot with many twists and turns that concludes in a mostly positive way. 

Review copyright 2024 Sue's Book Reviews