When seven guests descend onto a luxurious villa in Gozo to celebrate the end of a marriage and chime in the new year, the past comes back to haunt them. Secrets are revealed, old clashes are reignited, and, for one of them, murder is on the menu.
This is the premise of Gerard James Borg’s newly-released novel, The Divorce Party, which in some ways follows in the footsteps of his other gems like Sliema Wives, Bormla Babes, and Madliena Married Men, in that it is a craftly-plotted page-turner that can, and will, be devoured by his army of devoted readers. But there is one major difference between this book and his other creations: The Divorce Party is a classic whodunnit with a twist.
“I grew up reading Agatha Christie’s novels, so the concept of having a murder take place while everyone is in one confined space has always fascinated me,” Gerard tells me. “Of course, there also needed to be the right circumstances that brought all the suspects together… A birthday party or wedding felt somewhat boring, but a party thrown by a very handsome and very rich entrepreneur and his younger girlfriend to celebrate the ending of his marriage did not.”
The story, which is Gerard’s first to be set on the island of Gozo, takes place over a New Year’s weekend, and brings intrigue, drama, and suspense through its characters in a Tom Hindle kind-of-way. In fact, unlike the author’s previous books, the story here is a series of retellings, with each character explaining what they saw and what was said to them, as well as making revelations about their past.
“None of these guests should be trusted, though: they lie, they embellish things, and they try to make themselves look like better people than they actually are,” Gerard reveals. “Also, there is no detective in this whodunnit… I wanted the readers to be the detective, though the solution to the murder is given in the end, of course.”
Among the intriguing characters attending The Divorce Party is the entrepreneur’s soon-to-be ex-wife, who has to spend the weekend with her husband and his new girlfriend; a bitter half-sister, who doesn’t like the way life has sidelined her; a friend who is too disloyal for his own good, and his neurotic wife; a flamboyant couple, whose demeanour sometimes feels too put on; and even a party crasher who may be biting off more than they can chew. Everyone is a suspect. And the big question is: Who will make it out alive?
Interestingly, as is often the case with Gerard’s many characters, their characteristics and mannerisms are based on people he knows; many of whom are likely to be local celebrities. Yet, he insists, “it’s more about them inspiring bits and pieces of a character rather than the characters being full-on recreation of the real-life person.”
One thing that I—and many other readers, I’m sure—quickly noticed is that this book is missing the usual place name in its title. This, Gerard explains, was a deliberate choice. “When I named my first book Sliema Wives, I thought the title itself would stand out and get people to pick it up. It worked, and so I latched on to that idea for the four subsequent books. Now it’s time for something different, and surprising readers by not having a place name in the title is a part of that. Moreover, I feel this book has a more international appeal to it.”
As we reach the end of our interview, Gerard jokes that, this time round, he won’t say that this will probably be his last book. As a bit of context, Gerard has often mentioned in interviews surrounding his book launches that each novel takes way too much time and energy, and ends up telling us that this will certainly be his adieu to writing novels.
“I’ve spent three years working on this one and, while I tried to do it in a relaxed manner, in the end I still wanted everything to be perfect, which is why, apart from writing the book, I involved myself in everything from how the book cover looked to the direction of the promotional video. Right now, I can’t say that I have any definite plans to write another book but, hey, I never say never anymore.”
Considering the popularity of Gerard’s books, and the very mixed, loyal following he has, I’m pretty sure no one will complain about getting another fabulous book with endless twists. In fact, the concept he has brought to Malta’s publishing scene has proven so successful that each of his books has not only gone on to become a best-selling novel but also a part of local pop culture, spawning YouTube read-alongs, memes, and lots more.
So, as we wait for Gerard to decide whether he will put pen to paper again, we have the highly-anticipated The Divorce Party to sink our teeth into. Indeed, this weekend, you can be sure to find us curled up on our sofas trying to figure out who the murderer is before it’s revealed… And we suggest you do that, too!