Ralph's Party

Meet the residents of the London brownstone on 31 Almanac Road who together weave a tangled web of romance. Ralph, a ne'er-do-well artist, suddenly realizes he's head over heels in love with his new flatmate Jem, the most fun and sensible girl he's ever encountered. Unfortunately, Ralph's best friend, Smith, has already won Jem's affections, although Smith has not entirely given up his passion for the femme fatale, Cheri, who lives upstairs. Across the hall, Karl and Siobhan have been happily unmarried for years, until Karl gets a smashing job as a London rush-hour DJ and momentarily gets tempted into Cheri's cozy lair. These six star-crossed tenants become more enamored, and more confused, as the story progresses-until their true destinies are revealed on one crucial night-the evening of the extravaganza that is . . . Ralph's party. This wonderfully hip new novel was an instant popular success when it was first published in England, and American readers are sure to be captivated by the debut of a talented new writer. "Meet the residents of 31 Almanao Road in a romantic, engrossing novel that takes you up the garden path, through the front door and into the most intimate parts of other people's lives." "Ralph and Smith are best friends. Until they fall for Jemima their new flatmate. Jem knows one of them's the man for her - but which one?" "Karl and Siobhan live in the flat above. Happily unmarried for fifteen years, it looks as if nothing can spoil their domestic idyll." "Except maybe Cheri the femme fatale in the top flat. She's got her eye on Karl and she isn't about to let his fat girlfriend stand in the way ..."--Jacket A novel about a group of young (and not so young) Londoners and their relationships, decribing what it's like to be living in London in the late 1990s.