The Birthday Party (also published as Starstruck) is the sixth stand-alone novel by British author, Veronica Henry. Delilah Rafferty, celebrity chef and driving force behind the famous Rafferty family, is planning her fiftieth birthday party. But things rarely run smoothly with the Raffertys: husband Raf has his first acting job in ten years and the paparazzi will no doubt be waiting for him to fall off the wagon and take another mistress; daughter Coco has her first major role in a TV series , but will she be able to handle the nerves; daughter Violet has a successful singing career but is hopeful of composing her own work; and daughter Tyger has a successful underwear empire, but what is she doing bringing bad boy rock star Louis Dagger to the family lunch? While her agent, publicist and PA do their best to keep everything flowing well, is it any wonder Delilah feels permanently coiled, waiting for the cracks in their lives to widen? Delilah begins to wonder is she is the tower of strength her family needs, or a megalomaniac matriarch. Before the party finally happens, the cracks do indeed widen and Delilahs life falls apart. Henry takes her time to introduce the sizeable cast of characters that inhabit this novel: it takes eighty pages just to acquaint the reader with the main characters, but this is time well invested, as the reader comes to care about each of the main characters despite their flaws. The plot is original, and manages to include a myriad of events: alcoholism, animal cruelty, lesbians, adultery, an Irish Guest House, a broken hip, a cocaine addiction, a dramatic air ambulance dash and brain surgery, as well a dose of irony in the form of life imitating art. Another great Henry read.