A Reading With Robin Favorite of 2016
"The Dinner Party is everything a reader wants in a novel: guests with a knack for inspired conversation and family drama swirling both above and below the table. A truly entertaining read!" Elin Hilderbrand, author of The Rumor
“You think your family is chock full of quirky personalities? Pull up a chair for a holiday meal with the Golds of Greenwich! The vibe is hilarious with a side of heartfelt (but never corny); and the guests are as relatable as they are occasionally appalling. Brenda Janowitz works the room with sensitivity and humor. Thanks to her consummate hostessing, The Dinner Party is a satisfying, delicious meal that sticks with you long after it’s over.” –-Elisabeth Egan, author of A Window Opens
“In her funny and smart novel, The Dinner Party, Brenda Janowitz tells a story of transformation and hilarity. With an acute eye for complicated family dynamics, Janowitz takes us inside the hearts and minds of her characters at a holiday dinner. In great bursts of laughter and solemnity, we meet and love family members who are all trying to find their way both in the world and also in their family. As with any good dinner party, it’s a pleasure spending time at Janowitz’s table.” Patti Callahan Henry, author of The Idea of Love
“Don’t miss a seat at this table! Brenda Janowitz’s THE DINNER PARTY charms and delights with a story of the time-honored struggles between parents and grown children, husbands and wives, and brothers and sisters as unconditional love bumps up against unmet expectations. Laugh-out-loud funny with the biggest heart, you will fall in love with this family.” Jamie Brenner, author of The Wedding Sisters
"With an impeccable eye for detail, Janowitz skillfully creates scenarios and relationships so authentic that they're simultaneously hilarious and cringe-worthy. Equally compelling is the cast of emotionally complex, nuanced characters who are lovable even at their most exasperating ... [T]his novel delivers poignant universal truths about familial love and conflict in story that will have readers eagerly turning every delicious page. Thoroughly kosher."
Kirkus Review
“[The Dinner Party] skewers family distinctions, revealing how each member is vital to the functioning of the whole … readers who enjoy tales of family dynamics will devour this title.” —Library Journal
“Janowitz cooks up yet another delightful family saga, stuffed with sympathetic and lovable characters, real-life intergenerational heartache – and enough humor and hijinks to make you wish you were one of the Gold girls.” —RT Book Reviews
“A charming drama.” —US Weekly (Standout Spring Novels)
“Few writers could have more fun with this premise than Brenda Janowitz, whose satirical rendition of the aspirations, problems, and prejudices of a certain class of American Jews is hilariously precise … this is a party you won’t want to miss.” —Newsday
"An emotionally honest story about family dynamics, acceptance, and forgiveness." —POPSUGAR (Best Spring Books of 2016)
"[An] affable confection." —The Toronto Star
"Take a dive into The Dinner Party and take part in Sylvia’s party with her—and discover just how she manages her family, guests, and hosting while trying not to bump into any family landmines. But that’s the problem with guests—you never know who has landmines of their own." —The Jewish Book Council
02/15/2016
"Why is this night different from all other nights?" Because coming to the Golds' Passover seder are Ursella and Edmond Rothschild, the parents of daughter Becca's boyfriend Henry. Sylvia Gold even hires a chef to prepare the meal she normally cooks herself (and serves a Rothschild wine). The evening has to be special, so the Rothschilds know that the Golds are up to their standard. Alan, Sylvia's pediatric cardiologist husband, is on board if it makes his wife happy. Daughter Sarah will miss her mother's brisket, but at least her boyfriend Joe Russo (more on that later) and his mother, Valentina, are guests as well. Sarah is a magazine editor, and Becca is in medical school. Son Gideon is in Sri Lanka with Doctors Without Borders. Henry doesn't actually do anything. A lovely table has been set and chef Michael is making the foie gras (chopped liver), so what could go wrong? VERDICT Janowitz's (The Lonely Hearts Club) latest title considers class divisions, but more so it skewers family distinctions, revealing how each member is vital to the functioning of the whole. The author's fans and readers who enjoy tales of family dynamics will devour this title.—Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal
2016-01-21
This Passover, Sylvia Gold has only one thing on her mind: how can she impress her youngest daughter Becca's new beau and his family, an old-money banking dynasty that dates back to New York's gilded age? For many mothers it would have been enough to have three healthy, successful grown children, two of whom have followed in their father's footsteps and pursued careers in medicine. It would have been enough to have an adoring husband who finds her social-climbing antics endearing. And it would have been enough to have a beautiful home in Greenwich, Connecticut, and want for nothing. But Sylvia has never been one to say dayenu, the traditional Passover prayer of gratitude and contentment. The neurotic matriarch works herself into a tizzy to win over potential in-laws Edmond and Ursella Rothchild and their boorish son, Henry. This does not sit well with daughter Sarah, whose blue-collar boyfriend, Joe, has always been treated like chopped liver. Novelist Janowitz (Lonely Hearts Club, 2015, etc.) adds to the family drama by setting places at the Seder table for wayward son Gideon and his surprise fiancee, Malika, who's African-American, and for Joe's boisterous mother, Valentina, whose husband is up the river—and not the Nile. With an impeccable eye for detail, Janowitz skillfully creates scenarios and relationships so authentic that they're simultaneously hilarious and cringe-worthy. Equally compelling is the cast of emotionally complex, nuanced characters who are lovable even at their most exasperating. The only shortcoming with this dramedy is that it finishes too quickly, the conclusion reading more like a chapter ending than the wrap-up this tale deserves. Despite its rush to the end, this novel delivers poignant universal truths about familial love and conflict in a story that will have readers eagerly turning every delicious page. Thoroughly kosher.