Review of "The Party Upstairs: A Literary Novel" by Lee Conell

 

Martin has been the super in a luxury apartment building on New York's Upper West Side for 25 years.



The perks of the job include a basement apartment, where Martin and his wife Debra raised their daughter Ruby.



Martin and his family got by, but young Ruby was well aware of the difference between herself and her best friend Caroline, whose wealthy family lived in apartment 6A.



Unlike Ruby, Caroline got new playthings all the time, and Ruby was always leaving 6A with borrowed stuff, like expensive American Girl dolls.



In addition, Caroline's parents gave Ruby books on animals and ecosystems and history and famous artists, and tried to make sure she had enrichment opportunities. Nevertheless, it's hard to always be the 'poor little girl downstairs', and - though Ruby was appreciative - she grew up with a sense of resentment.

Now Ruby is a 24-year-old college graduate with an art degree, but she still isn't doing well.



Ruby has lost her job as a barista, has been dumped by her rich do-gooder boyfriend, and is burdened with massive debts from school loans. Thus Ruby is back in her parents' basement nest. This chagrins Ruby's father Martin, who - being middle-aged, graying, and exhausted from his job - wants to live alone with his librarian wife Debra.



The book is essentially a day in the life of Martin and Ruby, who - though they're father and daughter - are nothing alike.

Martin meditates to relax, bird watches in Central Park for pleasure, and takes his job very seriously. Martin is always at the beck and call of rich tenants, who phone him to kill waterbugs, trap rats, clean drains, unstick doors, unclog toilets, change light bulbs, chase away vagrants, knock down pigeon nests, etc.



Martin is also the one to call the firemen, the plumbers, and the bedbug guy, and he's the middleman between tenants who are renovating their homes and contractors - who don't always speak English. While doing all this Martin must kowtow to the residents, because tenant complaints would get him fired and thrown out of his apartment.



For her part Ruby moons around and thinks about making dioramas, which she'd like to do as a professional artist.



Ruby has loved dioramas since visiting The Museum of Natural History as a child.....



.....and she once stole a library book on the subject from upstairs neighbor Lily - who was a sometimes babysitter and sort of 'honorary grandmother.'



Though Ruby wants to be an artist she's never even taken an art internship, and always worked summers in coffee bars. After graduating college, Ruby once again took a job as a barista, and she seems to lack the ambition to REALLY get ahead, even though she's encouraged by her family and friends.

By contrast Ruby's childhood friend Caroline, who now lives in her parents' newly built penthouse apartment, IS a working artist.



Wanting to make a statement about wasteful disposables, Caroline started to sculpt things like paper plates and sporks. Ironically, Caroline's marble sporks are now the 'in thing' among the rich and famous.



Ruby can't help but be resentful, and is especially annoyed because Caroline can coast on her parents' money - unlike Ruby - who has to take ANY job to pay back crushing loans.

On the day highlighted in the story, Ruby has an important employment opportunity. Through Caroline's connections, Ruby has a job interview at the Museum of Natural History, which she often visits to see the blue whale.



A position at the museum would be Ruby's ideal job, and she fantasizes about crafting dioramas based on her experiences and interests. The upcoming interview softens Ruby's feelings toward Caroline, and Ruby consents to attend Caroline's party that evening, where she'll meet the hostess's rich and successful friends.

Martin and Ruby are a father and daughter who love each other, but have a testy relationship. This is heightened by the fact that mom Debra - who's the family peacemaker - goes off for a weekend professional conference. Martin and Ruby grate against each other and get into spats, and Ruby is especially angry when Martin chases away a homeless woman sleeping near the building's entrance.



To me Ruby comes across as well-meaning but clueless, childish, and selfish - and her behavior gets increasingly outrageous as the day progresses.

Martin, on the other hand, is nervous, anxious and barely holding up. His bent back, greasy face, dirty fingernails, sweat-stained clothes, desperate bouts of meditation, resentment of the building's residents, and auditory hallucinations of deceased tenant Lily - who he found dead on the toilet - seem to bode ill. And Martin's disagreements with Ruby just make everything worse.

In addition to presenting an interesting character study, the story addresses the contrast between the middle-class and upper-class in a hoity-toity Manhattan neighborhood with insight and humor. A good debut novel from author Lee Conell.

Rating: 3.5 stars