The Engagement Party

This engagement party threatens to be extremely uncomfortable, in fact quite possibly a disaster. Wayne and Clarissa are a young London couple whose immediate families are about to meet for the first time. Trying to create harmony amongst mums and dads from very different backgrounds and social classes is hard enough but in this case there are eight parents, step-parents and partners to cope with.

This humorous contemporary novel spans the week leading up to and including the lunch celebration at a posh country hotel. Increasingly the events during that week reduce the likelihood of the engagement party being remotely pleasant, romantic or successful. Will Wayne and Clarissa’s relationship be sufficiently resilient to survive?

Anyone who has struggled to make something of a broken family and has felt guilty about the impact on their children will recognise such feelings in this novel. And adult children who read it will appreciate that however bad things were in their own family, it could have been a lot worse!