The Party

The novel alternates between the first-person narration of Martin Gilmour, a 39-year-old art critic, and the private notebook entries of his wife, Lucy. It is structured around a police interview on May 26, 2015, in which Martin recounts the events of a lavish party three weeks earlier, interspersed with flashbacks spanning decades.

Martin sits in Tipworth Police Station across from two detectives he privately nicknames "Beige Hair" and "Grey Suit." He has declined a lawyer and reflects that this is the second time he has been interviewed by authorities, both times because of his best friend, Ben Fitzmaurice. The detectives ask him to recount the events of May 2, the night of Ben's fortieth birthday party at Tipworth Priory, his country estate.

Martin and Lucy are staying at a budget hotel because Ben did not offer them a room at the Priory, an omission that wounds Martin. He reflects on his marriage: He met Lucy 13 years earlier when she was a desk secretary at a London newspaper, and though she impressed him intellectually, he felt no romantic passion and married her out of convenience. Lucy's notebook entries reveal she made most of the romantic moves, including initiating their first kiss, interpreting Martin's unresponsiveness as shyness. She traces her attraction to emotionally unavailable men back to being raped by a man named David during her first week at Durham University, an assault she has never disclosed. Her notebooks also reveal a miscarriage Martin was absent for; he reacted to news of her pregnancy with calm anger, reminding her they had agreed not to have children. Through therapy, Lucy reaches a painful realization: Martin is not in love with her but with Ben, and always has been.

Martin's childhood flashbacks reveal a pattern of isolation and violence. Raised in Epsom by his mother, Sylvia, whose husband died before Martin was born, he grows up unable to connect with other children. At his preparatory school, when a wounded sparrow becomes the class mascot, Martin grows furious at his classmates' sentimentality, arrives early one morning, and kills the bird with a rock, experiencing a visceral thrill. His mother responds with resigned recognition: "You've always been a wrong 'un. There's something missing." He wins a scholarship to Burtonbury, a boys' boarding school, and leaves Epsom with relief.

At Burtonbury, Martin feels alienated by the wealthy, confident boys around him. On his first day, roommates discover a teddy bear his mother secretly packed and throw it around the room until Ben Fitzmaurice appears and tells them to stop. Martin recognizes Ben as the key to his reinvention and launches a calculated campaign to befriend him, guided by Sun Tzu's The Art of War. He breaks into Ben's dorm to learn his music taste, buys the same CDs, and steals a letter from Ben's mother revealing that Ben's younger brother Magnus died of meningitis. Martin sees this grief as both leverage and opportunity: He can fill the gap left by the dead brother. He engineers a public fight with Andrew Jarvis, a school bully, earning the students' admiration and, crucially, Ben's attention. Their friendship solidifies over shared music, toast, and vodka.

At Cambridge, where both attend Queens' College, Martin's obsessive attachment deepens. He meets Vicky Dillane, a law student who approaches him in the library after Ben mentioned Martin was always there. At a party at the Pitt Club, an elite Cambridge social club, a man propositions Martin, who feels an involuntary physical response before pulling away. That night, Ben, very drunk, decides to drive a borrowed car with Vicky in the passenger seat and Martin in the back. Ben drives recklessly, loses control, and the car flips. Vicky is killed. Martin pulls himself from the wreckage and tells Ben, "If anyone asks, I was driving." He takes the blame, viewing this as his destined purpose: to save Ben and bind him in permanent debt. The Fitzmaurice family's lawyers and connections ensure the Crown Prosecution Service drops the case, and Vicky's family accepts a financial settlement. Ben's father, George Fitzmaurice, begins quarterly payments of £10,000 to Martin as thanks for his "loyalty." Lucy later discovers the truth independently by accessing Martin's bank account and researching Vicky's death online.

The party at Tipworth Priory is an extravagant affair attended by celebrities, politicians, and the Prime Minister, Edward Buller. Martin and Lucy arrive early for drinks with Ben and his wife, Serena, a beautiful, cold woman who coined Martin's nickname "Little Shadow." Ben mentions a business opportunity in Montenegro he wants to discuss after the party, which Martin takes as a sign of renewed trust. During the party, Martin encounters Jarvis, now a junior energy minister, who observes that Martin has transformed himself to look exactly like Ben and mouths the words "I know," which Martin fears is a reference to the Cambridge crash. Martin also follows a young male waiter into the garden, where they have a sexual encounter. Afterward, Martin protests, "I'm not like you." The waiter replies, "You are exactly like me."

Around one a.m., Ben and Serena summon Martin and Lucy to a private study. Ben announces he has been asked to stand for parliament and must ensure nothing embarrassing from his past surfaces. He tells Martin their "public friendship" must end. The Montenegro deal was a fabrication to keep Martin at the party for this conversation. He offers a final lump sum in exchange for a signed confidentiality agreement. Martin drops to his knees, pleading, "I'm nothing without you." Serena calls him a "leech" and tells Lucy she needs a child to be less "bitter," adding, "Shame we all know Martin would rather fuck my husband than his own wife." She slaps Martin. Lucy launches herself at Serena and smashes a champagne bottle against her head. Serena collapses unconscious. Martin grabs the bottle, pushes Lucy out, and throws the bottle into the lake as they walk back to their hotel.

In the police interview, Martin feeds the detectives a version implicating Ben: He claims they had a cordial meeting about Montenegro, left the study, and heard a scream upon returning. He drops calculated hints about the Cambridge crash, hoping the detectives will investigate. When Serena regains consciousness and tells police she "slipped," the detectives have no grounds to hold Martin.

As Martin leaves the station, he sees Ben arrive for his own interview and greet a senior police officer as an acquaintance. Martin realizes that Ben's connections extend into law enforcement and that his trail of evidence will lead nowhere.

Lucy's final notebook entry describes her departure from The Pines, a facility where she has been staying. She does not regret hitting Serena, connecting the act to Vicky Dillane: "For every woman whose voice has been silenced." She recognizes her marriage is over and no longer loves Martin.

Two years later, Martin lives alone in a cottage with a stray cat he refuses to name. Lucy calls to tell him she is pregnant through IVF with her new partner, Will, a carpenter. Martin has been compiling a dossier on Ben's life, covering his wall with press clippings and stolen documents. Ben has entered parliament and been appointed junior minister. Martin's attempt to bring him down through the police failed, but he remains furious and plans a reckoning through his writing, which is the very manuscript the reader has been reading. He strokes the cat, thinks of the sparrow he killed as a child, and sits down to continue writing.