The Dinner by Herman Koch is a psychological thriller set over the course of a single evening at a fancy restaurant in Amsterdam. The story follows two couples—Paul and Claire Lohman, and Paul's brother Serge, a prominent politician, and his wife Babette—as they meet for dinner to discuss a disturbing act committed by their teenage sons.

As the evening unfolds through Paul's increasingly unreliable narration, layers of family secrets, moral ambiguity, and societal critique are slowly revealed. What begins as polite small talk escalates into a tense, morally complex conversation about how far parents will go to protect their children—and themselves.

The novel delves into themes of parental responsibility, privilege, violence, and the facade of civility, raising provocative questions about justice and complicity in modern society.