There’s something very comforting about knowing from the first chapter of a book where it’s going to end. It’s why rom-coms are so popular in both book and film format. Sure, it’s great to watch Parasite because it challenges and confronts you (while also being a phenomenally put together film), but sometimes you want something that’s reassuring in its predictability. Moreover, just because you know where something is going doesn’t meant that it can’t be thought provoking and enjoyable along the way. That’s exactly how I’d describe Brunch And Other Obligations by Suzanne Nugent.
The story opens at the funeral of Molly. Molly’s send-off is being presided over by her three closest friends; reclusive Nora, prim Leanne, and overachiever Christina. While the three women all viewed Molly as their closest friend and have known each other from a young age, they don’t get along particularly well. Yet their love for their dead friend sees them fulfil several of Molly’s last requests which challenge the various ways in which they have constructed lives – often at the expense of their own happiness. One of Molly’s requests is that they must meet up for brunch on the first Sunday of every month.
The narrative charts the journeys of the three women and the way they cope with the loss of their friend, as well as the personal struggles they all endure. Christina’s story is particularly poignant, as she struggles to keep her Alzheimer’s-ridden mother living with her as her mother slides further and further into one of life’s cruellest diseases. At the time of COVID-19, it felt fitting to me that I read this book. It many ways, its central message is that we all carry pieces of grief around inside us, yet we all too often only see our own. Nugent does something very interesting, which is to elegantly and eloquently provide a brief narration of the backstories for several characters with whom the three protagonists intersect. Its message is clear: everybody has a story, everybody endures heartbreak and loss, and we are richer for reaching out and learning the stories of others for it helps us put our own feelings into perspective. While it’s not a unique thing to do, credit must be given to the way in which Nugent does this. Every interjection is paced perfectly so that it doesn’t drag the pace of the main story but rather provides a pause for reflection.
And that’s what sets this book apart, Nugent writes well. There’s few, if any, clunky moments of expression, and Nugent moves from scene to scene in a manner that keeps the story moving. The narrator’s voice was clear and had just the right amount of judgement about the actions of the characters as to make me feel genuine connection to the narrator (probably the unnamed narrator was the character I liked the most), which was especially valuable as there were points when I didn’t particularly like the three women, even if I understood them. And that certainly happened through the story, most notably with Leanne. Leanne has been raised to be a ‘lady’, conforming to the conservative expectations of her hyper-critical mother, at the expense of pursuing art – a field in which she has quite some talent. While Nugent very clearly outlines the lifetime of conditioning that forms the bars across her own behaviour, at times I wanted to scream in frustration at Leanne’s behaviour. Certainly this made the catharsis all the more delightful, although the only significant weak point I felt within the narrative was the way it treated Leanne’s husband, James. It’s clear that she is married to him for the wrong reasons, and that the life she has constructed with him is one based on what she thinks she should have rather than what she actually wants, but James is clearly a decent guy who does care for her and tries his best to make her happy. A little more acknowledgement of that would have placated me, and made Leanne’s narrative thread all the more poignant as it accepts that life is complicated and messy, and sometimes you hurt someone who doesn’t deserve to be hurt. Sure, this wasn’t the primary focus of the story – the story’s central concern is about female friendship and female self-actualisation, but it was something that niggled at me in an otherwise well rounded story.
I picked up this book expecting it to be a ‘standard’ women’s fiction book, and while it definitely fulfils the expectations of the genre, it also exceeds it. The immediacy of Molly’s death and the depiction of the three friends’ grief over the loss of someone who they all loved lends the story an unexpected depth that is a testament to Nugent’s writing.
A fabulous debut.
Brunch and Other Obligations is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of May 5th 2020.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
The only thing reclusive bookworm Nora, high-powered attorney Christina, and supermom-in-training Leanne ever had in common was their best friend, Molly. When Molly dies, she leaves mysterious gifts and cryptic notes for each of her grieving best friends, along with one final request: that these three mismatched frenemies have brunch together every month for a year.
Filled with heartwrenching scenes and witty prose, Brunch and Other Obligations explores the intricate dynamics of girlhood acquaintances who are forced to reconnect as women. This upbeat novel reminds readers that there’s hope for getting through the hard times in life―with a lot of patience, humor, and a standing brunch date.
