DINNER AT 10:32

In Amouzegar’s novel, a young woman hears the story of her grandparents’ complicated social lives.

Donte’s granddaughter had often heard about the moment that changed her grandparents’ lives; indeed, she was annoyed by hearing the story when she was a child. But as an adult, she remembers it as “a magical bouquet of flowers,” which “kept its color and fragrance no matter how many times it was told.” Now,she wants to hear her grandfather tell it again so she can write about it. As Donte reminisces, he tells of seeing his ex-girlfriend, Vera Pacient, at a San Francisco dinner party in December 1980.Old school friends invited them both to the event; the pair hadn’t spoken in months, and it’s clearly an awkward situation. Their mutual pals are determined to help them resolve their issues, but they aren’t immediately successful. Donte recounts other, later parties and dinners, and the complex ups and downs of old friendships and rocky marriages among people in his friend group. There are also several other women who play important roles in Donte’s life, including fashion magazine empresario Charlotte and Alabama transplant Tess Cailean,but as time goes on, he’s never able to forget about Vera. Amouzegar, the author of Pisgah Road (2017), writes confidently and with nuance about his cast of San Franciscans, all of whom are driven, competitive people who are used to fighting hard-won battles, both at work and at home. The author shows an impressive command of the details of the various players’ relationships, although some of the dinner parties drag on for quite a long time. The prose is generally introspective in tone, but Amouzegar still manages to generate a good deal of energy along the way; a scene involving a speech at a London conference, for example, wonderfully lays bare the self-doubt behind Donte’s confident exterior.

A work that features admirable, layered storytelling and complex, distinct characters.