AND THE WINNER IS: After the Party by Lisa Jewell

 CLIO --


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BOOK TRAILER TUESDAY: After the Party by Lisa Jewell

GIVEAWAY & REVIEW: After the Party by Lisa Jewell

Description

Eleven years ago, Jem Catterick and Ralph McLeary fell deeply in love. They thought it would be forever, that they’d found their happy ending. As everyone agreed, they were the perfect couple. Then two became four, and an apartment became a house. Romantic nights out became sleepless nights in. And they soon found that life wasn’t quite so simple anymore. But through it all, Jem and Ralph still loved each other. Of course they did.
Now Jem is back at work part-time as a talent agent. Ralph, a successful painter, is struggling to come up with new, hopefully groundbreaking, work for his upcoming show. But the unimaginable has happened. Two people who were so right together are starting to drift apart And in the chaos of family life, Jem feels like she’s losing herself, while Ralph, stuck on the sidelines, feels like he’s lost his muse altogether. Something has to change. As they try to find a way back to each other, back to what they once had, they both become momentarily distracted—but maybe it’s not too late to recapture happily ever after…

About the Author

Lisa Jewell is the international bestselling author of nine novels, including Ralph's Party, Thirtynothing, and One-Hit Wonder. She was born and raised in north London, where she lives with her husband and two daughters. Visit her website at www.lisa-jewell.co.uk.

Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books; Original edition (August 16, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451609108
• ISBN-13: 978-1451609103

SOURCE:  PUBLISHER

MY THOUGHTS
ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT

Lisa Jewell's latest book, After the Party picks up about 10 years after Ralph's Party ended.  You don't necessarily have to read that one first, but it helps set the stage.  Jem and Ralph now have a boy and a girl after several miscarriages and they should be happy, but both of them find the spark is gone and something is not quite right in their relationship.  Jem never did get a proper wedding since Ralph never believed in a big production to define their relationship which is a sore point for Jem.  The story is told be each character with their own insecurities shining through and coloring each chapter.  So one day, Ralph decides he need to go capture his artistic spirit, leaves his family and runs away to Los Angeles to visit Smith, his and Jem's old flatmate.  Jem is left in turmoil, questions her very existence and has her own mini mid life crisis.  Ralph has a spiritual awakening while Jem finds strength.  They both meet a member of the opposite sex that either help or hinder the situation.  The main questions is:   will they work it out without these outside forces?

I talk to my books when I read.  I yell at the characters, I cry with them, I laugh with them.  You don't want to be around me when I read since when I like a book, I have noisy conversations with them. I had several yelling sessions while reading After the Party, telling Ralph and Jem to just grow up and behave since they are now parents. Every time the couple was just about to be on the same page, there would be a misunderstanding and causes them both to soar out of control.  I kept thinking "this is so real - I know couples who have had these same issues".   This is just a wonderfully written story full of emotions that is perfect for this time of year!  If you enjoy Madeleine Wickham, Harriet Evans or Hester Browne, you are going to adore this author as well. 

WANT TO WIN A COPY OF THIS BOOK? 

Contest is open to anyone over 13 years old with a reliable  US mailing address (no PO Boxes, sorry)

Contest ends on 9.2.11 Winner will be chosen by Random.org on 9.3.11

Winner will have 48 hours to respond to email (from BookHounds@hotmail.com) or a new winner will be chosen.

This giveaway is sponsored by Atria books and ONE copy is available.

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10 Questions with Lisa Jewell author of After the Party

 Please welcome LISA JEWELL, author of AFTER THE PARTY to BookHounds today!

1.     

Bookmarks or dog ears?
Dog ears! I will miss dog-earing pages when I start using my new kindle.

Dust jacket on or off when reading a hard back?
I keep it on, actually, completely contradicting my reply above, to use the flaps as bookmarks. But then, I probably only read one hardback a year.

What is the first book you remember reading by yourself as a child?
I have no idea. I feel sure it must have been one of the Enid Blyton boarding school books though, as I spent most of my childhood years reading them and re-reading them.

What are you reading right now?
I’m reading a book called This Perfect World by Suzanne Bugler which I chose because Amazon recommended it to me! It’s a real page turner about a woman with a seemingly perfect life which is turned upside down when a ghost from her past reappears.



Do you have a favorite author?
I love Nick Hornby, Maggie O’Farrell and Rachel Cusk but I’m pretty promiscuous and there isn’t really a writer who I read religiously. As a child, I read all of Agatha Christie’s novels so she would probably top my list.


Was there a book that inspired you to write?
Absolutely. At least a book that inspired me to stop thinking about writing and actually do it, and that was High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. It was the first time I’d read a book that was written in a voice that reflected my own life.

Do you have a favorite place to write?
Right now it’s at a bench in a café in my local shopping centre. It faces the revolving doors so I can watch everyone come and go but have my back to the other customers so I don’t feel self-conscious. I get more done there in an hour than I do in a whole day at my desk. In fact, maybe I should get rid of my desk!

How does your garden grow?
Literally? Figuratively? Literally my garden is a sore point. It’s the scruffiest on the road. I am ashamed of it. But I keep telling myself it's keeping burglars away. Figuratively, my life is a bed of roses. And honeysuckle. I am awash with blessings.

What is the last thing you Googled?
A new camera for my holidays. I have a massive SLR and wanted a smaller one that I can slip in my handbag for days out.

What makes you cringe?
Myself, usually, remembering things I've said or done in the past. Although I was watching a documentary the other night about young men who like (much) older women and they showed a thirty year old man sharing a shower with his seventy year old lover, naked and rubbing foam over each other. That made me cringe quite a lot.

Lisa, THANKS SO MUCH FOR STOPPING BY!

 

Be sure to pick up Lisa's latest book, AFTER THE PARTY, which picks up after RALPH'S PARTY.

About Lisa:

Lisa Jewell (b. 19 July 1968, Middlesex Hospital, London) is a popular British author of chick lit fiction. Her books include Ralph's Party, Thirtynothing, After The Party, a sequel to Ralph's Party, and most recently The Making Of Us. She was educated at St. Michael's Catholic Grammar School in Finchley, north London, leaving school after one day in the sixth form to do an art foundation course at Barnet College followed by a diploma in fashion illustration at Epsom School of Art & Design. She worked in fashion retail for several years, namely Warehouse and Thomas Pink. After being made redundant, Jewell accepted a challenge from her friend to write three chapters of a novel in exchange for dinner at her favourite restaurant. Those three chapters were eventually developed into Jewell's debut novel Ralph's Party, which then became the UK's bestselling debut novel in 1999. (from Amazon)

My Note:  My husband is actually the one who introduced me to Lisa's work. He picked up One Hit Wonder since he reads pretty much anything about music or musicians and, well, he really liked it.   One of his favorite authors is Nick Hornby and now everything makes sense after reading Lisa's answers to my questions.  I never did have the heart to tell him that he was reading Chick Lit.  I later went back and read all of Lisa's work and loved them all!