Read No
Length 219
Quick Review All the makings of an incredible novel, but instead it is forgettable even as you’re reading it.
The Garden Party by Grace Dane Mazur is a novel I tried very hard to like. Unfortunately, it just didn’t come together in a memorable way. It’s not a bad book. It’s not a bad story. On paper, the novel should be incredibly interesting and compelling. It just doesn’t manifest as such.
So here’s the story. There are two families coming together for a rehearsal dinner. Each family doesn’t much like the other because they’re vastly different. It takes place in the garden of one family. There are several generations present. Each person has their own inner dialogue and issues they are dealing with at the party. Including but not limited to: a love affair with a priest, a secret marriage ceremony, an old lady reminiscing on her lesbian tennis match, pretentious in-laws, idiosyncrasies, and so much more.
The action takes place in the span of one evening. It’s a snapshot of lives being lived. The plot isn’t based in actions but the inner dialogues of the characters themselves. It is an exploration of human emotions, which is neither comprehensive nor enthralling. The narrative is also interesting because the story is told from every character’s perspective. I love this take. Unfortunately Mazur crammed The Garden Party’s pages with so many points-of-view, it became confusing. At times, there were up to four perspectives in the span of one page. Too much. Too many.
Very few of the characters felt compelling or even realistic. They seemed like caricatures of stereotypes of people we are all familiar with. The children speak like snobbish middle aged men. Not like the small children they are. It just wasn’t believable. There’s also some plot holes. I’m sure Mazur wanted them there to emphasize the fact that life is never visible and people have their own individual journeys.
It should be a family drama packed little novel. In fact it is a clever little novel full of insight and uniqueness. It just isn’t one of those books you’ll return to or ever think of again, except if you see the cover because it’s quite pretty. Even as I was reading the story, I was forgetting who people were.
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Memorable Quotes
“…that women were really dressing for other women.”
“…it was women who understood what other women wore, while men simply reacted.”
Title: The Garden Party
Author: Grace Dane Mazur
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 9780399179723
