Friends and Strangers: A Read with Jenna Pick: A novel

I was expecting a lot and didn’t get anything. I wanted to like this book and I’m familiar with the setting at Smith College. However, this is about 30 pages of a short story painfully bloated into a novel that is excruciatingly painfully slow and boring. The moment I realize that her husband’s toothbrush losing a bristle had nothing to do with the storyline or additional meaning it was just filler, I decided I would rather watch paint dry. I try to be kind with book reviews because I know people put a lot of love and attention and energy into their work. I read about 60 books a year and this will be my biggest regret. I’m only giving it the second star because the references to Smith College without calling it Smith College made me lol many times.

This was my first time reading this author and I liked the book. I did not love it. It does make you think a bit and I liked it enough to buy another book from this author.

I wonder what led to Elisabeth changing her mind about her situation in the end

Trying to get through this book was like biting into a sandwich and getting only bread over and over and no meat. I kept hoping the story line would pick up but it never did. The characters were pretty generic, as was the story line. I probably would have set it down part way through and forgotten about it if it wasn’t my book club’s monthly read. Just pretty meh overall.

Two strong people who have an effect on each others lives in was they may never fully understand. You never know how what you too to help may actually change the whole world

I have read all of her books although Saints for all Occasions was my favorite! This one was notable for the complexity of the characters, the different phases of life they were in and the interesting dynamics of friendship between two women with a generation and experience gap! I especially liked how the author incorporated various forms of social injustice, complex meaning of privilege and the slow disintegration of the American middle class! I got so much involved in the characters, I somehow hoped for a different ending but the epilogue did justice to the book!

When I read this book, I forgot for a brief hour every night that I was nine months pregnant in the middle of a pandemic with my second child, and that there would be, any day soon, even for a brief period of time, two under two in my household. And that right now, the world really sucks. It was that good.To be upfront, it was not like much happened. The plots didn't thicken, and the characters unraveled more than they grew, but the writing was good, and the pace we perfect. I actually tried to take my time, looking forward to reading it every night.The plot follows a year in the lives of a new mother and her babysitter, a college senior. Both on the precipice of becoming new versions of themselves whether they like it or not (graduating into adulthood, becoming a parent).Things happen, etc.But in each chapter, the novel frankly looked at privilege, ageism, sexism, and a host of the world's other problems through the eyes of either woman in a relevant manner that felt genuine. In a more meta takeaway, life twists and turns and sometimes people meet and then they move apart, and there is no loss to that.Great read.

I've been a J. Courtney Sullivan junkie since Commencement, savoring each new novel as soon as it is published. At the top of my curated "vacation reads" stack this August was her newest novel, Friends and Strangers, which coincidentally was a Jenna Bush Hagar Read With Jenna pick. I happened upon an Instagram Live with the author and Jenna and was absolutely wowed; I could not wait to read this book.I've read several novels in the "domestic fiction" genre this year, many of which include both race and privilege as part of the dynamic. The theme of privilege--both its price and its benefits--is explored throughout this novel and the reader might route for an outcome that is tied to what a prestigious education or the safety of family money can afford you. Race plays a role as well, in the relationship between Sam and the women she works with in the kitchen of her college to earn money toward tuition, but I am getting ahead of myself.Elisabeth is a writer and new mom, recently relocated from Brooklyn to a small town in Western Massachusetts. She is an author and has a contract for another book as well as a new baby who is the fruit of several rounds of IVF. Like many moms, she loves her child but is tired and can seem to get nothing done in a day. Sam, a student at a women's college, is hired as a part time nanny to care for Elisabeth's son while she writes her next novel, the deadline quickly approaching. Sam is reliable, hard working, and a perfect remedy for Elisabeth's to do list, if only Elizabeth could get to it. The two become close, which is what happens between a mom and the person who cares for her child. A nanny may be an employee, but when it comes to your children, most people want to be sure that relationship is good. If you are Elizabeth, you are a little lonely, having a hard time making new friends, and looking at Sam more like a girlfriend than an employee. To be fair, Sam has her blind spots as well, with the people she works with in the school's kitchen and with her British boyfriend. He may have a cute accent but what a tool.What makes this book a must read are the characters. They are authentic, I was immediately invested in them, and I wanted to get to know them. Sullivan is spot on with her details and her character development. Five stars folks. Grab a copy!

Well call me Karen because today I have time and I want to speak to the publisher! I bought this because a book of the month club recommended it and like others was disappointed! I have time because you know why?!? I want people to save themselves from wasting their time reading this book! Scrolling through Facebook is more entertaining!! Someone paid for reviews-someone knows someone to get this published because this shouldn’t have been sent to print! Someone just wrote out some boring day to day nonsense and then just decided to stop because it’s a book right it needs to have an end? This book was painful I would have given two stars if there was some slap you in the face last line at the end but no this was a long drawn out story of ordinary people with no out of the ordinary life stories being told! I said what I said! If you’re going to publish something make it worth reading and more than ordinary! I will donate this book but leave my review in the cover for anyone who wants to bother picking it up-it will be the only thing that’s worth reading. I’m sorry I’m some stranger writing this but consider me a friend when I say you’re time is more precious than wasting it reading this! You’re welcome!

On the positive side there were two or three things I had a laugh over (not enough to declare it as a laugh out loud). It’s a modern read that people can relate to. The main character has -what I suppose you would call- a cynical sense of humor, but to me just sounded a bit whiny. I kept hoping there would be an interesting plot twist but it just didn't happen.The main character plods along, seemingly bothered by the new town she lives in, the shallow neighborhood women, her in-laws, her husband. Why don’t we just say her life? She befriends her nanny, a college senior whom she lives vicariously through. Which sounds like it might be fun but isn't really. The nanny idolizes her, unaware of the main character’s lack of enthusiasm for life and negativity. Was the theme "grass is greener"? Elizabeth lives vicariously through her nanny, and vise versa her nanny idolizes her, however no one is really having a good time.I thought being a new mom myself might be a fun read but I think the writer paints a bleak picture. True it's not all roses and sunshine but hoping not as pessimistic as this.

Loved this book! Elisabeth and her husband, Andrew, leave New York to move to a college town to be closer to Andrew’s parents. Adrift and untethered in her new quieter community, Elisabeth struggles to adjust to new motherhood, the neighborhood and making new friends. She’s anxious to publish her third book and needs a part-time babysitter for their son, Gil.Sam is a senior at the college, in need of extra cash to cover her expenses. She responds to Elisabeth’s babysitting inquiry on the campus bulletin board. She’s immediately taken with Gil, and Elisabeth and Sam quickly establish an easy rapport. Elisabeth welcomes the company. Sullivan does an excellent job of creating both of these main characters. If you like character-driven novels, this one does not disappoint. Sullivan takes her time shaping and sharpening these two women. They are so finely and completely articulated that each could step off the page and slip into the world. In fact, all of the characters are so well-developed. I appreciate when a writer takes the time to expertly craft believable, interesting characters that the reader wants to know. We learn that thirtysomething Elizabeth is wrestling with fertility issues and whether to have another child. Sam is nearing college graduation, juggling doubts and conflicting feelings regarding her older, British boyfriend, Clive. The story unfolds gradually and the reader gets slice-of-life snapshots of both women, as they spend time with various friends, family dramas and deciding what their next steps will be. Both are at a crossroad in their lives and trying to do what they think is best. The bond deepens between Elisabeth and Sam, more mentor/friend than employer/caregiver. The story arc/plot happens relatively late in the book. This will frustrate some, and not bother others. I was so caught up in the richly textured writing and enveloping inner dialogues of the characters, that it wasn’t an issue. Then, Sam and Elisabeth have a sudden unforeseen falling out, with devastating consequences. For me, the book was about the complicated, complex and intricately tangled relationships that often exist between women, bonds that are both strong and quite fragile as well. It’s a wonderful story about the people who enter our lives, and how that landscape can change so abruptly and unexpectedly. The book is funny, warm, relatable, sometimes frustrating and also wistful. Such a great read!

This book is about Elisabeth, a writer And new mother who moves to her husbands small hometown, and Sam, senior at the local college who babysits does Elizabeth’s son, and the friendship the two women form. The character development is excellent and while the book doesn’t come to as complete an ending as I would have liked, I enjoyed it and didn’t have any trouble getting through it.

2 women bond who are unlikely to befriend each other, yet this story shows how friendship is created by need, loneliness and being in the right place at a time in someone’s life. Elizabeth and Sam, one a 35plus mother and author and Sam a college senior, create a special friendship as Sam enters Elizabeth’s life as a nanny to her little boy. Earning money to help Sam through her senior year, each woman ends up taking a major role in the decisions and life style as the year unfolds. The book is long. The story unfolds from each characters point of view. The ending was not exactly what I expected...but life does not always deliver the ending we want or see coming.

I chanced upon the author back in 2013, by accident. I was biking in Brewster, Mass., on Cape Cod and happened to stop at a book store when she was there doing a book signing for her first, Engagements. I bought it, read it, loved it. And since then I've bought and read her subsequent four novels. Engagements is still my favorite. Saints for All Occasions my second favorite. At this point, I'm addicted. She has a knack for making ordinary people in ordinary situations interesting and bringing them to life in a way to sheds light on my own life experiences.In Friends and Strangers, the two main characters are Elizabeth a successful author in her thirties and Sam a college student who babysits for Elizabeth's infant son, becomes a friend of Elizabeth's and in some ways is Elizabeth's younger self. There's some chatter about social injustice along the way, but mostly this is the tale of the loves and aspirations and frustrations of these two young women, with the occasional well-stated insight into human nature (e.g., as Sam says, "Have you ever been shocked by your own reaction to something? Like maybe you don't know yourself at all?")It's a good read, a fun read, and I look forward to her next.

First book I’ve read by this author. A lot of hype because of it being Jenna Bush Hager’s July book of the month. This is the first hardback book that I’ve purchased in a long time. I was swayed by the reviews that touted....” An insightful, hilarious, and compulsively readable novel...”Unfortunately, it was not....an insightful, hilarious, and compulsively readable novel. It was just okay.

This story is told by the perspective of two women. Elisabeth is a writer married to Andrew and mother to infant Gil, and living in a new house in a college town. She is trying to write her third book but is so busy with the baby, she doesn't find the time to write. She hires a college senior named Sam to come in 3 days a week to help. Elisabeth and Sam hit it off and become friends, telling each other almost everything...

J. Courtney Sullivan is one of my favorite writers. She examines aspects of life, being a woman and relationships that resonates with my experiences. So many times in my life I hoped for, looked to and imitated other women whom I was sure had the answers I didn't about life and how to live it. Sullivan accurately addresses those feelings. Using two women at different stages of life is a brilliant device. There are many truths involved in this book. The reader finds herself saying... " I did that" or " Why did I do that? "For the record the constant dialogue was vital to characterization and story development.Wonderful story by a gifted writer.

Few writers develop characters the way Sullivan does. I loved Maine but I think I love F&S even more for the utter relatability — I *know* these people. Ok, I *am* these people. Her stories unfold with heart and the finest details that make a reader love the characters, flaws and all. As a mom, as a woman, I’ve had these “seasons” of relationships. We all have. But Sullivan brings them to life in a tale both compelling and real. Champing at the bit for her next one. (Also, between her previous “Commencement” and this... man am I thankful for a co-ed college experience!)

Loved it! Loved the characters and could relate the them all. I loved the setting in a college town and the relationships between the women. It takes on complex issues of gender and class and lets you see the many sides of the issues. I did not love the ending... it seemed a lazy way to end a complex situation- that seemed out of character for all. But that was such a small part of the book it did not take away from my enjoyment.

I bought this book because there has been a lot of buzz around it my book clubs. I ended up reading it over the course of a single day-an afternoon, really-and it absorbed all of my attention for that time.Friends and Strangers is a good book-a really good book. I am in my mid-thirties and this book seemed like it had been written about people that I know. I have a lot in common with the characters in the book. Like Sam, I attended an all-women's college. Like Elisabeth, I found a mom's group online that has been the solid support system since I had my first baby 8 years ago. Sam reminded me of a younger version of me, and Elisabeth is living a life parallel to where I am now. I found much of the book very relatable and that is a testament to the author's skill.The storyline of the book is not really just one storyline-it's several threads that are all woven together. There's Sam's long-distance relationship with an older man, Elisabeth's estranged relationships with her family, the marital tension over money and the questions of whether to have more children, the prospect of Elisabeth's in-laws losing their house as the job market has made her father-in-law's company obsolete, plus much more. At times I couldn't figure out where the story was going and then I realized it's not that kind of book...everything didn't come all together perfectly by the end. Also, the book packs in a lot of observations about modern-day life. Some of the observations are one-offs (such as the pressure for new moms about breastfeeding at all costs) and others are themes that occur throughout the book (the Hollow Tree stuff, observations about different kinds of privilege, etc.). I do think that these subtle commentaries make the book seem very modern at the moment, but they may not stand the test of time. Post-pandemic, our world is going to look very different.I did find Elisabeth's character to be a little off-putting. She makes a couple of decisions that are just...bad. Really bad and immature since she didn't think to consult her husband Andrew about these huge, life-altering decisions that she made (either before or immediately after). That left a bad taste in my mouth about her...Elisabeth is definitely not an aspirational character who has her adult life all figured out.Sam, to me, was the more likable of the two women. For one thing, she is much younger and her naivete is believable. For another, she learns some hard truths about the world over the course of the book and she matures.My only complaint (and the reason I give the book 4.5 stars and not 5) is that only Sam got a voice in the epilogue. I had some questions about Elisabeth's life 10 years into the future and their run-in at a traffic light didn't give me enough answers.I definitely recommend this book-it's smart, it's thought-provoking, and it's an enjoyable read!