‘The New Year’s Party’ by Jenna Satterthwaite

Published by Verve Books,
4 December 2025.
ISBN: 978-0-85730932-7 (PB)

The prologue to The New Year’s Party takes place barely an hour into 1^st January 2020.  It describes Olivia Rhodes as she edges her way unsteadily through the kitchen of the building she had fled earlier.  A sense of mystery and despair grows as Olivia’s faltering progress takes her deeper into the house and then we are taken back to where this all started. 

A group of four high school friends, now in their thirties, have traditionally held a party on New Year’s Eve.  Over the years the responsibilities of adulthood came along, and some have moved away to pastures new.  Marriages meant that spouses were invited to the annual shindig, but not, when they arrived, children.  Then, five years ago, something happened, something unpleasant; since then, the friends have, for a variety of reasons, not been able to meet up.  Nathan Phelps decides it’s time they resurrected the custom and invites the old gang to what sounds like it will be a wild celebration.  It’s fair to say that not everyone is as enthusiastic as Nathan is to meet up, nevertheless on 31^st December 2019 the guests gather at his home. 

All the characters in the novel have secrets, several made mistakes when they were young adults, and some are tortured by their recollections of the past.  It is clear from the outset that there is bad blood, not to mention irreconcilable difficulties, between some of those preparing to party.  The friendship group feels fractured, but most of the midults are not yet ready to say goodbye to youthful excess and whilst some of them hope to rekindle their previous camaraderie the truth is that this once close-knit group is now a collection of individuals.  It is fitting, therefore, that almost every chapter heading includes a character’s name and the episode it describes focuses mainly on him or her.  There are three notable exceptions where first person narratives are used.  This authorial technique emphasizes the strained relationships between friends and couples and builds tension as the novel progresses. 

We know from the beginning that the party will descend into chaos, the question is what will it be, who will it involve and how will it resolve?  There are twists and turns along the way as the narrative cleverly either misleads the reader or leaves them in suspense by switching to another character’s perspective.  During the final chapters the potential for devastation builds to a head as the world turns upside down for revellers and readers alike. 

The New Year’s Party is an unusual novel with themes ranging from the impact of historic sexual abuse to marital mismatches.  At the book’s heart is a mystery that unfolds and resolves in a most unusual and certainly unexpected way. 

Well written, a great plot and an enjoyable read.  Recommended.
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Reviewer: Dot Marshall-Gent 

Jenna Satterthwaite was born in the Midwest, but grew up in Spain, lived briefly in France, and is now happily settled in Chicago with her husband and children. Jenna studied classical guitar at the Conservatorio Profesional de Música de Zaragoza and earned her BAs in English Lit and French at Indiana University. Now she is a literary agent with Storm Literary and also works a 9-5 style office job.  Once upon a time, Jenna moonlighted as a singer-songwriter in folk band Thornfield. In the winter, you can find Jenna obsessively and cozily pounding out novels on her laptop by the fireplace. In the summer, you can find her getting sunburned at the pool with her kids, vaguely wondering how a novel is even written. She loves sushi, reading in her natural habitat (aka her bed), and women taking back their power.

Connect with Jenna on Twitter @jennaschmenna, Facebook on her author page, and Instagram @jenna.satterthwaite.author. She loves to hear from readers! 

Dot Marshall-Gent worked in the emergency services for twenty years first as a police officer, then as a paramedic and finally as a fire control officer before graduating from King’s College, London as a teacher of English in her mid-forties.  She completed a M.A. in Special and Inclusive Education at the Institute of Education, London and now teaches part-time and writes mainly about educational issues.  Dot sings jazz and country music and plays guitar, banjo and piano as well as being addicted to reading mystery and crime fiction.