Guest post written by author Elyssa Friedland
Elyssa Friedland is the acclaimed author of Last Summer at the Golden Hotel, The Floating Feldmans, The Intermission, and Love and Miss Communication. Elyssa is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia Law School and currently teaches novel writing at Yale. She lives with her husband and three children in New York City, the best place on earth. Learn more: elyssafriedland.com. The Most Likely Club is out now.
The goddess Taylor Swift famously said, reviving a quote of the late Madeline Albright, “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” But we all know female friendships are complicated, no matter how deep or long-standing the relationship. My latest novel, The Most Likely Club, explores the friendship between four women once extremely close in high school, reunited at their 25th reunion. I loved writing about the complex interactions of these women, who rediscover how much they need each other as they face the struggles of being grown-ups. Here are five books that do an excellent job contemplating the intricacies of female friendship.
Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan
This book about four unlikely friends at all-female Smith College follows them from freshman year to commencement and beyond. Their friendship wavers in strength as their lives evolve and they question each other’s choices. This is a beautifully written, honest portrayal of female friendship. I read this when I was newly married, five years out of college and feeling like everything in my life was in transition, friendships included.
We Are Not Like Them by Jo Piazza and Christine Pride
A riveting novel that places a friendship in a crucible, this is the story of a white woman (Jen) and Black woman (Riley) who are best friends since kindergarten faced with a devastating event that threatens to ruin their relationship. Jen’s husband, a police officer, is involved in the shooting of an unarmed Black teenager, and Riley is the local journalist covering the story. Co-written by a Black and white writing team, this is an unforgettable, ripped from the headlines story you won’t forget.
Please Join Us by Catherine McKenzie
A novel about a woman (Nicole) whose once sparkling law career is on the brink of collapse when she gets approached by a women’s networking group. She decides to take a chance and meets an exceptional group of women who she quickly bonds with. At first, they are all about supporting one another, but then Nicole gets called to Athena’s apartment in the middle night to cover up a crime, and Nicole is forced to confront just how far she’ll go to protect her friends and her career. The suspense will keep you up all night.
The Space Between Us by Thrity Ulmigar
Set in India, this book captures the unlikely friendship between an upper-class housewife, Sera, and the illiterate servant, Bhima, who has worked in her home for twenty years. Both women suffer abusive marriages and have pregnant daughters, but despite these similarities, the vast class differences between them make their ability to lean on each other nearly impossible. And yet they do, in shocking and scandalous ways. It’s a heart-wrenching, difficult read but well worth it. And, oh, what an ending!
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
A classic worth revisiting, especially if you’re looking for a tender, exquisitely written tale of female friendship and mothers and daughters. Four Chinese immigrant women meet in San Francisco to play mah-jongg, speak about the difficult past they left behind in China and complain about the ways in which their American daughters are losing their culture. Seven strong female voices unfold in this book, which I have returned to many times when I need inspiration for building flawed, lovable and relatable female characters.
