Lead Review (Just A Little Dinner)

• Book: Just a Little Dinner
• Location: Paris, Tunisia
• Author: Cécile Tlili, Katherine Gregor (translator)

Review Author: tripfiction

Just A Little Dinner by Cécile Tlili is a slim novel that packs a punch. It’s written almost like a one-act play and is dramatic, with a display of intense emotions. Almost all the action takes place in a smart apartment in the seventh arrondissement of Paris. Two professional couples have arranged to meet for supper, but there are secrets and hidden agendas at play. Claudia is a beautiful young woman, a physiotherapist and ‘trophy’ partner to Étienne, who is a lawyer. Étienne has invited his long-term friend Rémi and Rémi’s wife Johar, a powerful businesswoman. Claudia is to be their hostess and prepare the meal.

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Claudia doesn’t know the other couple well. She feels awkward and resentful, and she does what she can to avoid interacting with either her husband or their guests. Rémi arrives promptly and seems pleased to be there but Johar is deliberately late. She has a lot going on and is reluctant to attend; she is completely preoccupied with business matters and doesn’t share her husband’s affection for Étienne or Claudia. None of the other guests know what’s on Johar’s mind: neither she nor the others realise that Étienne has organised the dinner in order to ask a great favour from Johar. As they gaze down from the balcony of the apartment, each is on the brink of making a life-changing decision.

The story is tightly written, with real tension created between the characters due to repressed emotions, secrets, and the timings of critical decisions that they must make. There is a clever balance between the characteristics of the couples and their opposites; some with high confidence levels and ambitions versus others who are introspective and insecure. As the evening unfolds, the balance of power and the alliances between the characters shift and the couples’ futures are changed forever. This, it turns out, is far from being ‘Just A Little Dinner’. A great short read that is one level a possible insight into the lives of power couples in Paris, and on another a reminder that we are all driven by basic human needs and emotions.

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