An old proverb asks, “With friends like these, who needs enemies?” In her novel With Friends Like These, Sally Koslow explores the fine line between trusted friend and devious enemy.
Chloe, Quincy, Talia, and Jules tell their stories in alternating chapters. The women all met years ago when they ended up sharing an apartment. They’ve come to love each other, so Chloe’s insecurity, Talia’s aloofness, Quincy’s materialism, and Jules’ brashness aren’t what comes between them. Instead it’s a mishmash of choices made in which one friend put her own needs and desires before those of one of her friends.
Dreams, financial hardship, ambition, desperation and hope are all motivations that can lead a person to make decisions that she might criticize in another. These women are no different, and though they all come to admit to themselves that their choices were poor ones, at the time each seemed perfectly justified in looking out for number one.
I found all four of these characters to be refreshingly real. I enjoyed the fictional look at women’s friendships, whose tense moments are generally more-than-compensated by the comfort and support we receive from them. Most women will find something to admire and something to pity or disparage about all of them, but isn’t that real life?
I laughed and also felt sorrow for these women that Koslow so beautifully paints with their faults and virtues and instincts of self-preservation.
AUDIO NOTES: The narrator does a great job giving the characters voices that are distinct and in fitting with their personalities without going over the top. She especially shines on the supporting men characters, who are generally larger-than-life.
This type of character-driven novel is one of my favorite type of audiobook listens, and With Friends Like These lived up to my expectations.
Jennifer Donovan loves her friends. Though they’ve never betrayed her, investing in people does sometimes hurt. Find out more about what she believes at her blog Snapshot.