Review: THE AFTER PARTY by Anton DiSclafani

My review of The After Party (Riverhead Books) by Anton DiSclafani was published by Lone Star Literary Life! This is a mixed review of historical fiction about socialites in River Oaks (Houston, Texas) in the 1950s. From the review:

Joan �the jewel� Fortier, �Houston�s most famous socialite,� is twenty-five years old in 1957. She�s always chafed against restrictions imposed by her inherited position in society, but her behavior is increasingly erratic. Cece Buchanan, Joan�s best friend since before they can remember, believes it her �job to protect her [Joan] from herself,� to persuade Joan to behave, to �fall-in.� But Joan will not be tamed: keeping secrets, keeping company with strange men, disappearing from her family and friends; when she�s present, her state is clearly chemically altered. 

Cece is hurt by Joan�s withdrawal and obsessed with whatever Joan is up to. When this fixation begins to threaten Cece�s marriage, she must choose. Cece, who observes that �most unhappy people � wanted contradictory things,� is torn between the comfortable, known world of her husband and son, and �the great big world of the night� that Joan represents. 

The After Party, Anton DiSclafani�s second novel, set in the Houston neighborhood of River Oaks (where the houses have names and there�s enough alcohol to fill the swimming pools), follows the fateful events of a single summer in the lives of a clique of debutantes and illustrates the consequences of violating the stultifying conventions of a rigid society. Making liberal use of flashbacks, the story is told in first person by Cece (the �yawn�), revealing the history of a friendship. Cece has been spared obscurity amid the brighter lights of these debutantes by her association with Joan, the sun to Cece�s moon.

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