Saturday, July 24, 2010

The False Friend by Myla Goldberg

Publisher:  Doubleday, October 2010
Pages:  272
Genre:  Adult Realistic Fiction
Source:  Received ARC from publisher

The opinions expressed in  this review are my own.  Please fell free to comment.

What is a friend?  What does a friend look like and act like?  How do we judge whether we are a true friend or not?  What do we look for in a friend?  These are questions we ask ourself from the time we first enter school.

After reading the summary of this book I knew I wanted to read it.  The False Friend is the story of a young woman,Celia,  who believes she is responsible for the disappearance of her childhood friend Djuna.  She is remembering her childhood friendships and she doesn't like what she sees.  She is convinced that after having a terrible argument with her best friend Djuna that she watched her run into the woods and fall into a hole.  She also believes she left her there.  She returns to her home town to find out if she was this terrible person.  The only way to do this is to confess to her parents and her friends.  The problems is no one believes her.  They all believe that Djuna got into a car with a stranger and was never seen again.  Who is right?  Is it possible that things were so horrible that she has blocked out the truth?  What is the truth?

This story kept me reading from beginning to end.  I could not put it down.  As Celia confronts her friends she learns that she was not what many of us would call a good friend.  Why do people hang around those who bully them or put them down?  Celia describe several arguments she'd had with her friend Djuna.  It made me recall a time in high school when another of my friends and I were after the friendship of another girl.  She would take turns having us over.  One day I was her best friend and the next the other girl was. We would argue to the point that teachers would step into the hallway.  The difference was I was just shy enough and lacked enough self confidence that I would do just about anything for her friendship. 
Miss Goldberg has done an awesome job with her characters.  She shows us the human side that is often lacking in a book.  We see their flaws.  We can identify with them.  There is something here for everyone.  This is one book that I will definitely recommend to all of my friends.  I look forward to more work by this author.

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