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A review by fireflyhollow
The After Party by Anton DiSclafani
3.0
The After Party follows the story of a young socialite in 1950s Houston. Cece Buchanan has it all: money, popularity, a husband who adores her, a loving son, and a best friend all women - and perhaps some men - are envious of. Cece has been attached to Joan Fortier at the hip since childhood. When the death of Cece's mother and the virtual desertion of her father leaves her without parents at fifteen, the Fortier family takes Cece under their wing and into their home. Cece and Joan have their whole lives planned, but not everything is as solid as Cece wants to believe. Joan disappears shortly before their high school graduation without a word only to almost just as mysteriously reappear a year later. Fast forward six years and Cece is as devoted to Joan as ever even though Joan - and Cece's husband - doesn't want her to be. Cece soon realizes that Joan isn't the person she has always thought and Joan may just be hiding a few secrets that could destroy her and her well to-do family.
I know that women in the 1950s were not as innocent as I would like to imagine they were, but I was honestly a bit shocked by the looseness of the high class group of socialites in this book. The main objective of these women was to marry men of well standing, which of course was no surprise for the 50s. To Cece, this was a perfectly acceptable goal in life, but to Joan - it was not. Joan wanted something more. She wanted to go where the ideas are. But, I honestly never saw any real effort from Joan. For the majority of the book she seemed liked a spoiled rich girl who was willing to hurt her parents through any means necessary - even if that means sleeping with half of Houston. And her big secret? It was frankly a bit underwhelming and predictable.
Joan's behavior was deplorable, but I honestly found Cece's behavior to be even worse. As mentioned above, Cece had it all. Except Joan. Joan was the one thing Cece could never truly fully grasp, and it drove a wedge between Cece and her husband, Ray.
I know that women in the 1950s were not as innocent as I would like to imagine they were, but I was honestly a bit shocked by the looseness of the high class group of socialites in this book. The main objective of these women was to marry men of well standing, which of course was no surprise for the 50s. To Cece, this was a perfectly acceptable goal in life, but to Joan - it was not. Joan wanted something more. She wanted to go where the ideas are. But, I honestly never saw any real effort from Joan. For the majority of the book she seemed liked a spoiled rich girl who was willing to hurt her parents through any means necessary - even if that means sleeping with half of Houston. And her big secret? It was frankly a bit underwhelming and predictable.
Spoiler
I assumed she had had a child (remember the year's absence?), but I thought it was something way more scandalous than just a baby. I could never figure why she hated her parents so badly and thought that perhaps her father abused her. Nope. She just slept around a lot and ended up getting pregnant. Her mother did have extremely high expectations of Joan, but I don't believe it warranted Joan's behavior. And for Joan wanting so much more out of life, she had a tendency to choose the relative easy way out of everything. Joan consistently chose the comfort of money over the acknowledgement of her child. I obviously don't know what it would have been like to be a single mother in the 1950s, but loving money more than you love your child was heartbreaking and disappointing.Joan's behavior was deplorable, but I honestly found Cece's behavior to be even worse. As mentioned above, Cece had it all. Except Joan. Joan was the one thing Cece could never truly fully grasp, and it drove a wedge between Cece and her husband, Ray.