You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
PMJ reissues Lisa Jewell's debut Ralph's Party 25 years after it was first published
Penguin Michael Joseph (PMJ) is reissuing Lisa Jewell’s 1999 contemporary romance Ralph’s Party on 23rd May 2024, to celebrate 25 years since the novel was published, with a brand new introduction from the author.
Inspired by the cultural zeitgeist of the late 1990s – Nick Hornby, “This Life”, Britpop, Radiohead – and her own experiences as a 28-year-old out-of-work secretary living in London, Jewell wrote the first three chapters of Ralph’s Party after a challenge from a friend and sent 10 copies to agents chosen at random from The Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook. Two months after she had received her ninth rejection letter, a literary agent asked to see the “rest of it” and Jewell got to work, finally typing ‘The End’ on New Year’s Eve 1997.
PMJ said: “Published at the turn of the millennium, Lisa and her contemporaries pioneered a shift in contemporary romance fiction, writing honestly on a range of issues around modern womanhood and demanding to be taken seriously. With ’90s mania inspiring current cultural trends and romance fiction sales at all-time-high, Ralph’s Party continues to resonate with readers.”
Ralph’s Party was the bestselling debut novel of 1999. Since then, Jewell has published 21 novels, most recently dark psychological thrillers including None of This Is True, Then She Was Gone and The Family Upstairs. PMJ said she has sold over 10 million books worldwide and been published in more than 30 languages.
Jewell said: “The publication of my first novel, back in 1999, felt like a crazy fairy tale. I kept expecting someone to tap me on my shoulder and tell me that it had all been a dreadful mistake. But it wasn’t a dreadful mistake, it was, in fact, the beginning of a 25-year-long career which is still going strong, and for Ralph’s Party to be re-released in the same year in which my 21st novel hit the number one spot in the Sunday Times bestsellers adds an extra layer of magic to it all. For my original readers, Ralph’s Party captured the zeitgeist of late ’90s romance, so to see it now out in the world again alongside the remarkable new generation of modern romances is incredibly exciting and satisfying.”
Elizabeth Smith, communications director, and associate publisher said: “It is with great excitement that we are reissuing Ralph’s Party, 25 years after it first blasted into the bestsellers list. Lisa’s range and longevity is a true reflection of her exceptional writing talent. We can’t wait for a whole new generation of romance readers to discover this other side of Lisa’s writing and the beautiful new package – and fall in love with Ralph and all his friends at the best party of the year.”
