Book Review: "The Party Upstairs" by Lee Conell
“The Party Upstairs” by Lee Conell
Synopsis: Ruby has a strange relationship to privilege. She grew up the super's daughter in the basement of an Upper West Side co-op that gets more gentrified with each passing year. Though not economically privileged herself, her close childhood friendship with Caroline, the daughter of affluent tenants, and the mere fact of living in such a wealthy neighborhood, close to her beloved Natural History Museum, brought her certain advantages, even expectations. Naturally Ruby followed her dreams and took out loans to attend a prestigious small liberal arts college and explore her interest in art. But now, out of school for a while, she is no closer to her dream job, or anything resembling it, and she's been forced by circumstances to do the last thing she wanted to do: move back in with her parents, back into the basement. And Caroline is throwing one of her parties tonight, in her father's glorious penthouse apartment, a party Ruby looks forward to and dreads in equal measure.
With a thriller's narrative control, The Party Upstairs distills worlds of wisdom about families, great expectations, and the hidden violence of class into the gripping, darkly witty story of a single fateful day inside the Manhattan co-op Ruby calls home. Told from the alternating points of view of Ruby and her father, the novel builds from the spark of an early morning argument between them to the ultimate conflagration to which it leads by day's end. By the time the ashes have cooled, the façade that masks the building's power structure will have burned away, and no party will be left unscathed.
Rating (out of 5): 3.75
Review: This is not an original observation, but Manhattan can often seem like a gated island community. While not even thirty years ago, a middle class family could live comfortably on the Upper West Side, the current level of wealth is absurd, and the idea of social class is simultaneously evident to all and denied wildly by those who exist among the upper crust. Ruby, a recent graduate from a liberal arts college, lands back in the basement apartment on the Upper West Side where she was raised. Her father is the super for the building, offering a tantalizing and frustrating proximity to wealth. Her childhood best friend, Caroline, who lives in the building, is very wealthy and very out of touch, and delights in gaslighting Ruby.
Martin, Ruby’s father, is grappling with the power dynamics of his role. He is seeing the end of his tenure approach as he ages, and is struggling more and more to peacefully accept the abuse that comes from the (increasingly) wealthy residents of his building.
These dual power struggles come to heads during one eventful day, as Ruby prepares for a fateful job interview and Caroline’s party, and Martin tries to balance his growing temper and frustration with both his daughter and his tenants.
The book provoked a bit of anxiety in me, as we could see a potentially disastrous end barreling quicker and quicker toward us. Ruby seems to delight in a fit of pique after an unfortunate afternoon that sends her on a destructive streak. Most of her “victims” deserve all the punishment they receive, but her father also suffers from her actions, in a way that hurt to read.
This is a very, very well-written book, and I look forward to more from Conell, though this was certainly not a relaxing reading experience.
TL;DR: A witty and quick New York novel with some key insights about social class.
If you liked this, try:
“Want” by Lynn Steger Strong (Bookshop | Kindle)
“Friends and Strangers” by J. Courtney Sullivan (Bookshop | Kindle) my review here
“Such a Fun Age” by Kiley Reid Bookshop | Kindle
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