“As you made your way through life, there were people who stuck, the ones who stayed around forever and whom you came to need as much as you needed water or air. Others were meant to keep you company for a time. In the moment, you rarely knew which would be which.”
Friends and Strangers, J. Courtney Sullivan
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group Page Count: 416 Year Published: 2020
Synopsis: “Elisabeth, an accomplished journalist and new mother, is struggling to adjust to life in a small town after nearly twenty years in New York City. Alone in the house with her infant son all day (and awake with him much of the night), she feels uneasy, adrift. She neglects her work, losing untold hours to her Brooklyn moms’ Facebook group, her “influencer” sister’s Instagram feed, and text messages with the best friend she never sees anymore.
Enter Sam, a senior at the local women’s college, whom Elisabeth hires to babysit. Sam is struggling to decide between the path she’s always planned on and a romantic entanglement that threatens her ambition. She’s worried about student loan debt and what the future holds. In short order, they grow close. But when Sam finds an unlikely kindred spirit in Elisabeth’s father-in-law, the true differences between the women’s lives become starkly revealed and a betrayal has devastating consequences.
A masterful exploration of motherhood, power dynamics, and privilege in its many forms, Friends and Strangers reveals how a single year can shape the course of a life.”
For all my character-driven story lovers, this one is for you! It touches on many themes — motherhood, economic inequality, social inequality, nanny-mother relationships, friendship, and marriage — and examines how we find fulfillment when our lives change so drastically that we lose sight of who we are.
I loved the writing. It’s contemplative, reflective, thought-provoking, and just good. Elisabeth and Sam’s relationship was very interesting and I liked that Elisabeth and Sam both acted in ways they thought was productive and helpful, but was often tone-deaf and unhelpful. Because it’s character and relationship driven, some readers may find it slow, but I really enjoyed the depth of the storytelling!
I recommend for fans of Such A Fun Age and The Most Fun We Ever Had 📚
Have you read this one?
Read It Like Rory 