Friends and Strangers (Sullivan) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
J. Courtney Sullivan… begins in the middle of the night… from which promising vantage point we’re given delightful permission to sit back and spy…. Drawn by Sullivan’s deft hand, the relationship feels authentic and richly textured…. Friends and Strangers is a big novel with big ideas…. An honest rendering of what happens behind closed doors.
Clare Lombardo - New York Times Book Review


There’s a rare degree of emotional maturity in Friends and Strangers, a willingness to resist demonizing any of the players, a commitment to exploring the demands of family with the deliberate care such complex relations require. Once again, Sullivan has shown herself to be one of the wisest and least pretentious chroniclers of modern life. Every hard-won insight here is offered up with such casual grace.
Ron Charles - Washington Post


Sullivan’s intimate, incisive latest explores the evolving friendship between a new mother and her babysitter…, showing where the cracks seep into their friendship. Readers will be captivated by Sullivan’s authentic portrait of modern motherhood.
Publishers Weekly


Sullivan humanizes the roadblocks to successful relationships and the modern tools that help or hinder those bonds… in a deceptively quiet tale delivering big truths, complete with an enticing epilog 10 years in the future —Beth Andersen, formerly with Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI
Library Journal


Sullivan… displays her keen observation skills with this insightful examination of two women at very different places in their lives.… [A] deeply personal yet profound exploration of motherhood, friendships, and [how] privilege… shapes our lives.
Booklist


(Starred review. Sullivan… writes with empathy for her characters even as she reveals their flaws… [and] illuminates broader issues about… dueling demands of career and domesticity…. This perceptive novel… resonates as broadly as it does deeply.
Kirkus Reviews