Elizabeth Day's latest novel, One of Us, is a state-of-the-nation sequel to The Party, blending intimate family dynamics with a propulsive plot and astute analysis of power. The story centres on Martin Gilmour and Ben Fitzmaurice, schoolfriends in their late 40s, whose lives have been shaped by a dark secret from their past. Ben, now energy secretary, has manipulated his way into power, while Martin, once a scholarship boy, seeks revenge after being cut off by Ben a decade earlier.
The narrative is driven by a whodunnit-ish structure, with Martin's witty first-person voice interspersed with third-person sections from other characters, including Ben's wife Serena, his daughter Cosima, a rival Tory MP Richard Take, and even Ben's deceased sister Fliss. Day explores whether the moral revolutions within her characters can parallel societal change, using the inner lives of Tory MPs as an unpredictable and energising focal point.
The novel is intentionally ambitious, mixing levity with substance, though its social satire sometimes feels like a series of memes. Characters include Cosima, an angry teenager committed to climate activism, and Richard Take, a disgraced MP who finds unexpected success on a reality TV show. Day creates a genuinely unreliable narrator in Martin, investigating the value of therapeutic language while showing his gradual shift toward reliability.
One of Us is a stronger, more distinctive novel than its predecessor, better read as a standalone work. Day returns to the intimate family dynamics at which she excels, combined with a brilliantly propulsive plot and a willingness to see her characters as capable of change and redemption.
