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Ralph's Party (Paperback)

by Lisa Jewell (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Frequently Bought Together

Ralph's Party + Thirtynothing + One-hit Wonder
Price For All Three: £17.97

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Product details

  • Paperback: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin (6 May 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 014027927X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140279276
  • Product Dimensions: 20 x 12.6 x 2.7 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 8,833 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #3 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > J > Jewell, Lisa

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
Lisa Jewell lives in North London. While on holiday a friend made her a drunken bet: dinner at her favourite restaurant if she wrote three chapters of a novel. Just over a year later Ralph's Party was finished. In a similar style to Marian Keyes' Rachel’s Holiday, Ralph’s Party introduces the residents of 31 Almanac Road, a three-storey Edwardian house in South London. The house, divided into flats and its inhabitants are the focus of this contemporary, romantic novel. Ralph and Smith, who live in the basement flat are beginning to doubt that they will ever find a suitable flatmate until Jemima comes along. In fact, Jem finds herself more than suitable when both Ralph and Smith fall for her. Karl and Siobhan live in the flat above and they have been together in total happiness for fifteen years. That was until Cheri, the cold, calculating but very sexy lady in the top flat sets her sights on Karl.

Lisa Jewell’s fast paced, well-observed and thoroughly engrossing first novel has been well worth that bet for dinner. --Pat Naylor

Product Description
Meet the residents of 31 Almanac Road … Ralph and Smith are flatmates and best mates – until, that is, the gorgeous Jemima moves in. And suddenly they’re bickering about a lot more than who drank the last beer. Of course, Jem knows that one of them is the man for her – but is it Ralph or Smith? Upstairs, Karl and Siobhan have been happily unmarried for fifteen years – until, that is, Cheri moves into the flat above theirs. Cheri’s got her eye on Karl and doesn’t see why she should let a little thing like his girlfriend stand in her way … Sooner or later its all got to come to a head – and what better place for tears and laughter, break ups and make ups than Ralph’s party?

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Customer Reviews

108 Reviews
5 star:
 (49)
4 star:
 (28)
3 star:
 (14)
2 star:
 (6)
1 star:
 (11)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (108 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A love story, yes, but fresh, witty, warm and intelligent!, 29 Aug 2000
By A Customer
I got this book free on a magazine, thinking I may as well read it before I slate it, imagining it would be another in the Helen Fielding, Amy Jenkins et al style. NOT SO! I started reading very cynically, waiting for the cliches and the "humorous" observations that you've heard a million times before......There were none! Instead, this was warm, natural; not in the slightest bit laboured! Lisa Jewell manages to inject FRESH observations of modern living (and that alone sets this book aside from the current painful stream of hackneyed "chick-lit"). Let's not forget, we're not going for realism here - it's a STORY! These are not social studies, they are CHARACTERS! And they are good ones. Some are shallow, but not by accident (unlike Bridget and Honeymoon - characters who THINK they have something to say, and tragically don't). The others are funny, human, I was interested in them (Oh, and yes, I did fall a little bit in love with Ralph!). I liked the plot, too. Perhaps all of these things happening at the same time within such a small group of people IS unlikely - but that's where fiction comes in, is it not? And considering the number of situations and relationships she is dealing with at one time, Jewell never confuses the reader or muddles her storyline through laziness. I thought this was so well written, so enjoyable, I can't wait for "Thirty-Nothing", and am keeping my fingers crossed that Lisa doesn't have just one book in her!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, 16 Mar 2001
By A Customer
This is an excellent novel. I am a big Lisa Jewell fan, though of her two novels, I definitely feel 'Ralph's Party' is the best. To be honest, the first page didn't grab me and I picked it up and flipped through in several bookshops before finally buying one and thinking it was just another girly romance. To my surprise, I found myself reading a gripping, engrossing and intelligent read focusing on 6 fascinating characters. 24 hours later, I still couldn't put it down. This is very high-level commercial fiction - it's not like the usual romantic drivel. It discusses relationships with insight, it manages to consider male viewpoints even though the writers is female, and the female characters are not Bridget JOnes cliches who are suffering endless diets - they are strong, realistically drawn women. The plot neatly weaves together two plot strands and draws them together - agreeably, the ending is slightly contrived, but certainly very gripping and builds up a superb finale.

'Thirty-nothing' is also a good read, though not as tightly plotted, and written in a more woolley, sloppy style than this one. To my mind, 'Ralph's Party' has more insights and a better writing style than many literary novels I've read recently. The prose is descriptive, rich in images, and written with an admirable precision and control.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars You won't read a funnier, sweeter, better book all year, 10 May 1999
By A Customer
I loved Ralph's Party, from the moment it starts to the romantic, funny ending. It's so addictive, sharp and sad, that you get hooked without realising it. The characters are great - from sweet, rosy-cheeked Jem to blonde bitch from hell Cheri and useless but adorable Karl, I believed them all.

It's basically the story of a house in Battersea, and the lives of its inhabitants, which become inextricably linked. How many of you know anything about the people who live in your house? Hardly anything, aand that's what makes this such an interesting contemporary London story, too.

It's a great book: the ideal tube read, holiday read, or novel to give to your best friend, boyfriend, girlfriend ... whoever. Just read it!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
I really enjoyed this book. It's a nice easy read for a gloomy weekend. I did feel once I'd started reading it that I couldn't put it down! Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. J. E. Parkinson

1.0 out of 5 stars very disappointing
I bought this because I'd so many good things about it, but I thougth the ending was dreadfuklly disappointing and there was nothing amusing, engaging or memorable about it. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Julie Pearson

3.0 out of 5 stars disappointing ending
I enjoyed the book in patches but I didn't like it as a whole and I thought the ending was really disappointing. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Madeline James

3.0 out of 5 stars Sharp and lively with a disappointing ending
This book is quite varied, at times funny, philosophical, romantic and coarse. This is better than the relentless breeziness of other chicklit, but the mixture only partly works... Read more
Published on 26 May 2006 by Reptile

5.0 out of 5 stars Queen Lisa.....
This book has been one of my favourites of all time, I sat down to read it on a sunday afternoon and ended up being late for work the next day because i had to read it in one... Read more
Published on 16 May 2005 by clauds_d_s

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing and boring!!
I had never read anything by Lisa Jewell before and I picked up this book encouraged by the good reviews, however I have to say that I really had to struggle to get to the end... Read more
Published on 15 Mar 2005

5.0 out of 5 stars I'll be reading all her books
Brilliant. She describes all the characters so well that they are realistic and easily identifiable with. Brilliant book from beginning to end. Read more
Published on 10 Dec 2004 by D. J. Patterson

5.0 out of 5 stars Lisa Jewel at her best!
This is the first of Lisa Jewel's novels. I read it just recently after having read her other novels. How fascinating. I just could not put it down and read it in one go. Read more
Published on 8 Dec 2004 by npissia

4.0 out of 5 stars A long term love affair with a lazy read
I must have read this book 6 times since I bought it about 2 years ago. It never fails to appeal to me as any one of the number of characters fits my mood when I pick it up, much... Read more
Published on 11 Jun 2004 by julia_radford

2.0 out of 5 stars A great read for a rainy afternoon
This is no Booker prize contender, but simply a great read for curling up on the sofa with a box of chocolates on a rainy afternoon. Read more
Published on 3 Oct 2002

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