‘With Friends Like These’ by Sally Koslow Book Review

By admin, on August 25th, 2010

About Sally Koslow

Sally Koslow is the author of The Late, Lamented Molly Marx and Little Pink Slips. Her essays have been published in More, The New York Observer, and O, The Oprah Magazine, among other publications. She was the editor in chief of both McCall’s and Lifetime, was an editor at Mademoiselle and Woman’s Day, and has taught creative writing at the Writing Institute of Sarah Lawrence College. The mother of two sons, she lives in New York City with her husband. You can visit Sally Koslow’s website at http://www.sallykoslow.com/.

My Review

For years I have heard how the friendship that men and women have with their friends is completely different. Even when men do something to a friend they tend to get over it faster and can resume the friendship without dwelling on what happened forever. I am happy to say that I have a few best friends who are men and they have agreed that even when things go sour, they move past it and try to make things better to repair the friendship and move on.

This book is the story of four friends who met years earlier when they were looking for an apartment. Even though they initially didn’t seem to have too much in common, they became instant friends and a bond was formed. This book follows each of their lives and the friendship that stays strong for many years. That is, until these women do something they probably never thought they would – betray their closest friends.

The storyline is more complex and woven together much better than just a true chic lit book. Ms. Koslow has a way of delving into her characters hearts and extracting emotions that make your heart hurt for what they are going through. This book was a fast read that held my interest throughout. And, I am sad to say, I was able to relate to what these women endured with their best friends.

(photobucket is down for maintenance so my rating will be up shortly)

About With Friends Like These

When Quincy, Jules, Talia, and Chloe become New York City roommates in the early nineties, they become fast friends despite their drastically different personalities. Now, nearly twenty years later, their lives have diverged as much as they possibly can within one city: Quincy is mourning a miscarriage and lusting for the perfect Manhattan apartment; Jules, a woman with an outsize personality, is facing forty alone; Talia, married and the mother of a four-year-old, is her family’s reluctant breadwinner; and Chloe faces pressure from her hedge fund manager husband to be more ambitious. As these women grapple with the challenges of marriage, motherhood, careers, and real estate, they can’t help but assess their positions in life in comparison to each other–leading them to envy and disillusionment. Honest and entertaining, and written in Sally Koslow’s trademark wry, vivid prose, With Friends Like These asks serious questions about what makes female friendship endure, and to whom a woman’s loyalty most belongs.3