Kate has taught herself to be careful, to be meticulous.  

To mark the anniversary of a death in the family, she plans a dinner party - from the fancy table settings to the perfect Baked Alaska waiting in the freezer. Yet by the end of the night, old tensions have flared, the guests have fled, and Kate is spinning out of control.  

But all we have is ourselves, her father once said, all we have is family. 

Set between the 1990s and the present day, from a farmhouse in Carlow to Trinity College, Dublin, Dinner Party is a dark, sharply observed debut told with sharp, elegant humour that thrillingly unravels into family secrets and tragedy.


This an amazing debut told in the third POV we follow Kate and her family passing though time from the present to the past as they struggle on with life after loss and trauma. It is effortless in how it passes though decades back and forth to tell Kate and her families story now and then, with the pasts impact showing clear in the present.

This a character lead novel with true heart, there wasn’t a character I didn’t feel for at least once in the novel, even the toxic “mammy” there is real darker early Marian Keyes feel to the book. It is full of Irish sayings, quirks and characters that add subtle humour to what is quite a dark story about how we pay for the mistakes of our parents make, how we deal with grief it’s lasting effect and how we judge people by outdated standards.

I never once felt bored, annoyed at the self pity of the characters and while very much a character lead novel the plot stand along side this as engrossing and holds your interest, I was rooting for these characters at the same time wanting to know where the story was leading , what had happened in the past and what the conclusion would be.

I was wary at first this would be another Sally Rooney type book, which for me are overrated self indulgent tosh, but this is the book Rooney wished she could write.
This was a pre approved read on my dashboard in all honesty I wouldn’t have requested this book after reading the synopsis as I had Rooney fear so I am so glad I was pre approves cause I would have missed out on what is amazing family sage and all it’s messiness .
If you feel the same as me gives this a try because it a four strong star read any day of the week. REQUEST NOW OR BUY NOW

This a harrowing but beautifully written with elegance, humour and intelligence. It is very touching. In particular I found how the author portrays the relationships between the sibling well managed and very true to life showing all nuances these love hate relationships contain.

A lot of the main action takes place off the page you only hear of it in massing remarks and subtle interweaving, this works really well and for me really allowed the reader a more insightful look into Kate in particular character arc. There is at times however I would have liked a little more background and detail but as I say in the most it works brilliantly. The author often hints at something without much detail only for it to followed up later on this was a good way of holding interest though out the novel.

The book reminds of book I read last year by Claire Powell where all the chapter/main sections centre round a meal, this like the book by Powell was a very clever way of demonstrating family life it really does centre round the table.

It is more relevant here given Kate’s struggle with an eating disorder. The author shows real class, care, empathy and understanding of ED’s in how she writes about this, without getting into too much detail she manages to give a realistic portrayal and while it times this could be trigging for some I felt it was written very well. The afternoon tea scone scene expertly shows how the simplest gestures/comments that come from our own issues said to a child can have lasting damage.

I hope haven’t made the review sound the book was doom and gloom because it very much was not the case, it was full of humour and touching moments with for me a perfect ending that wasn’t quite a prefect fairy tale ending. I also love the nod to the 90’s and early 00’s.

Fans of Marian Keyes earlier work,Clare Keegan and Lucy Cadwell will love this.

Highly recommended- strong characters, insightful, engrossing, witty and moving-

On a foot note I had forgotten all about basked Alaska as a pudding till I seen the cover and read this book… I have never wanted one more

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This wasn’t a bad read but it wasn’t for me either. A lot of back and forth timelines and I struggled with the overall point of the book. I guess I was expecting more.

I enjoyed this book and it was a nice, easy read for me. The author has produced a well-written story which at times was enticing and engrossing. The story provided some real-life, down-to-earth themes which can be relatable to most readers.

I felt some areas of the book were slower than others, however, I would recommend this to fellow readers!

Dinner Party by Sarah Gilmartin is a family drama that begins with a disastrous family reunion dinner,minus her mother, organised by hostess Kate to celebrate the life of her twin sister on the anniversary of her death. With her brothers and sister-in-law bickering and sniping at each other an already fragile Kate is overwhelmed as her meticulous planning goes to waste.
From there the book goes back to Kate's childhood in rural Ireland ,the feuding brothers, the controlling mother not averse to physically or verbally lashing out at her children, the father more interested in his farm than his wife and not least the bond between her and her twin sister, who as a teenager becomes increasingly distant before disaster strikes and Kate begins to unravel.
I don't know if any of this book is autobiographical but Sarah Gilmartin lays open Kate's struggles and frequent dysfunction in a moving and often disturbing way.
The book is slow moving but beautifully written, I did fear at one point that the whole thing might be a catalogue of misery and misfortune but I ended it feeling quite uplifted.
A great piece of writing.

I read this book in early 2022 when it came out in Ireland and I was blown away. Meg Mason is right to call this book stunning - I couldn't put it down once I started it. I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish reading it and the tiredness the next day was well worth it.

Kate is not well. She looks well, her life looks like it's a good one from the outside but we all know that's a lie. The story goes back and forth between now and 1990s, introducing us to Kate's life and family. Yes, this book does include a dysfunctional family and it's one of the best portrayals I've ever read. Though it may seem like it's starting slowly, with every page you will be pulled further and further in until, like Kate, it unravels completely.

I've recommended this to several patrons in the library and they all said they were glad to have read it.

And big hup for county Carlow representation! ;)

oof . . . this just felt like yet another dysfunctional family drama. which isn’t bad per se, but i’m afraid it didn’t do much for me — it just didn’t bring anything new to the table.