Party Going is a novel set in England during the post-World War I that focuses on a group of rich teenagers who are on their way to a party hosted by the infamous playboy, Max Adey. As they make their way to the south of France they find themselves stranded when a dense fog covers London and all trains are canceled. Traffic is at a standstill and most commuters abandon their cars to walk. The jubilant but frustrated teens move to the station hotel where they are allocated rooms with baths.
The book has little to no action and circles around empty conversations by these wealthy individuals. The only center of the action is a battle between the beautiful and seductive Amabel and the calm and reluctant Julia Wray. Both women are interested in Max Adey. Amabel and Max have a history but Max has been meaning to escape Amabel, but she tracks him down. Julia, whom Max had been courting earlier is no match for Amabel, she somehow finds her way into his room at once Max is perplexed and disarmed by her immense beauty. Julia is convinced that her putative romantic holiday with Max has come to an end.
Although Party Going lacks action, it presents itself partly as an art-house movie with extraordinary British texts in which eccentricity, locality, and class are showcased with the silence, murmurs, laughter, and courtships that occur in the station hotel rooms.
