I enjoyed this, and it was readable, but it didn't grab me. I kept looking for something bad to happen in Elisabeth and Sam's friendship, it seemed a little strange, but Elisabeth was reaching out for friends in a neighbourhood still alien to her. She didn't want to let go of the life she loved in Brooklyn, even though she had made the decision to move with her husband and baby out of town. A good exploration of female relationships. I also loved Sam's friendship with George, it really validated his "obsession" as the family saw it. There are too many secrets, lots of meddling and realisation that you ca't live someone else's life. I liked the epilogue showing how they had moved on 10 years later. #netgalley #friendsandstrangers

Elizabeth moves from Brooklyn to the suburbs, with her husband and baby. Sam, their babysitter is a student at the local university. They become good friends, but there's always this cloud that hangs over their friendship. A sort of an invisible barricade, that is there due to the age difference, their upbringing, the fact that Sam works for Elizabeth, and many other things. We hear the story from their points of view, following their lives and how everything plays out in a span of a year or so.

What's the best way to describe what this book is about? It's about life. It's about two different lives, people who follow different paths, yet have some things in common as well. It's about how they help each other, and influence each other's lives. It covers a multitude of topics from motherhood, today's political or economic issues, marriage and love, growing up, our relationship with our parents.

Both Elizabeth and Sam are flawed characters. That's what I really liked. Their actions and choices drove me to feel mad, sad, sympathetic, happy... Everything you would experience with your own friends and family, or just in your own life. It's never a straight line. They don't make the right choices always, and even if they do, the reasoning for it might be completely wrong.

Sam is nosy, immature, Elizabeth is snobby and delusional. But Sam is also kind, naïve, sweet and hard-working, an empath. Elizabeth is a go-getter, generous, funny, intelligent. Basically, just real people with all the good, the bad, and the ugly as they say.

It's definitely slow-paced, but the issues it discusses will definitely stop you from drifting into a nap on your couch. Some of the paragraphs made me think, made me say yes, this is it. It's thought-provoking and I feel like this would be the perfect book for a book club.

This was my first read by this author and it won’t be my last! I loved the characters that the author introduced and how the individual lives of Elizabeth and Sam meddle together with good intentions that simply go awry, leaving the friendship in disrepair.
I’m only deducting a star because at times the pacing was a bit slow and I would’ve liked more of a resolution at the end of the book. Sam and Elizabeth cross paths again years later, but readers don’t get any sort of answers to what could be a potential restoration of their friendship.

Unfortunately, I just didn't connect with this book. I liked the two main characters, Elisabeth and Sam, but I struggled to keep focus on the book and to follow the plot line.

After becoming mother for the first time, journalist and author Elizabeth agrees with her husband’s wish to leave busy New York for a quieter place closer to his parents. Yet, the new life does not really seem to fit to Elizabeth. She feels exhausted from the baby and finds it difficult to make friends in her new community, the other women seem to be happy with dull pseudo-occupations and spend their days gossiping. When she decides to hire a babysitter to gain some tome to work on her next novel, things change finally since she immediately bonds with Sam, an art student in her final year at the local college. Sam herself comes from a decent background and is fascinated by the woman who seems to get everything done easily, who has style and taste and has made an astonishing career. Despite the age gap they become friends, but there are things they just ignore which, however, become more and more apparent the better they get to know each other and when they need each other most, a gap opens which is unsurmountable.

I totally liked J. Courtney Sullivan’s novel from the start. Sympathising with Elizabeth was easy since I can imagine a lot but not leaving a big town to become a full-time mother and spend my day with gossiping neighbours. Sam, too, was easy to like, still young and unsecure but with a good heart and totally in love with her British not-so-boyish-anymore boyfriend. From the start, it is a challenge between two characters who actually like each other but where there is an imbalance in power in several areas which puts at time Elizabeth, at times Sam in a better situation.

The author explores a lot of aspects in her novel which give you food for thought. First of all, Elizabeth’s move to a small town which does not offer much. Also her struggle with being a mother is something a lot of women surely can emphasize with. Quite interesting also the dynamics between her and her husband who cannot really cope with a more successful wife on the one hand, on the other he is relying on her financial situation to realize his own dream. Elizabeth looks down on him since he has never really accomplished anything in professional ways – not a good basis for a new start in a new place.

Sam lives the typical student life, yet, her fellow students all come from rich families and can afford things she can only dream of. She manages to live in both worlds, but feels often closer to the women in the cafeteria kitchen she works with than with the girls she shares the dorm. Her relationship with Clive is mysterious form the start, yet, totally in love, she forgets to question his behaviour and falls prey to him. She is still young and simply makes mistakes young people make.

Both characters as well as the plot have a lot to offer, yet, at times I found the backstories a bit too long, a bit too detailed since they always slowed down the main action. Nevertheless, a wonderful read I thoroughly enjoyed.

I couldn't connect with the book at all so I had to DNF, sorry. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read though.

"Friends and Strangers" is a character-driven novel about two women, at different ages and stages, whose lives entwine. There are various sub-themes in play, including racism, sexism and inequality, especially in the workplace. J. Courtney Sullivan beautifully explores different relationships, e.g. with parents/partners/siblings, and the ways in which female friendship transcends barriers. The book also illustrates privilege in its many guises. I was really invested in the characters and didn't want to leave them. An engaging and thought-provoking read.

2.5 rounded down

How best to describe Friends and Strangers? Perhaps a slightly scathing take might be as Kiley Reid-lite: the plot and characters contain more than a few things in common with Such a Fun Age than I expected, however the tone is a bit more Katherine Heiny or Meg Wolitzer-esque.

This is yet another case of way too much going on -- too many themes and big ideas meaning none are satisfactorily covered at the expense of the things that did kind of work. I liked some of the writing on a sentence level, and genuinely felt for Elisabeth when she remained supportive of her husband when he quit his job to pursue his dream of inventing a solar-powered barbecue and in some of her interactions with her in-laws. But this wasn't enough to make up for the other shortcomings: the tone sometimes felt a bit off to me (two urbane 30-something year old characters unable to understand what pan-sexuality is?!) and I came away with the feeling that if this had been published perhaps a decade ago I might have received it better.

It always sounds like a put-down when a book is described as perfect book club fodder, but I think this would sit pretty sweetly in that category: lots of different characters and themes to discuss and in an accessible writing style. This would definitely make a suitable light(ish) holiday read for readers less picky than myself.

I found this book difficult to read and got so lost throughout it. I kept on reading it but it wasn't my go to read, i enjjoyed others I was reading at the time and they were more pick me up than this.

Two women at different phases of their lives, united by indecision, become fast friends for the few months that their lives intersect.

Elisabeth, a writer, is new to the suburbs, lured from Brooklyn by her husband Andrew with the promise of more space, a better home for their son and a life closer to family, his parents. Sam is an artist in her senior year of college and undecided about her future. Elisabeth hires Sam to be a three day a week nanny for her son Gil so she can write her third book. She spends little time writing, instead talking to Sam about her dislike of small town life, her in-laws and, at times, Andrew for his desire to have a second child. In turn, Sam confides her insecurities about her future to Elisabeth and her infatuation/love for Clive, the English boyfriend who wants to marry her. The friendship builds to an unsustainable level.

This beautifully written, character driven, slow moving novel is not as simple as the plot described above. There are themes of power, of affluence, of the right of women to chart their own lives. There is a disturbing subplot involving the quiet, dignified kitchen workers at the college. And there is George, Elisabeth’s father-in-law, whose concept of The Hollow Tree is frighteningly similar to our country today. J. Courtney Sullivan’s Friends and Strangers triumphs on so many levels. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, John Murray Press and J. Courtney Sullivan for this ARC.

Unfortunately this book missed the mark for me - it felt really oblivious. It follows two women - Elisabeth in her thirties just after she has her first child via IVF, and Sam, a senior in college who becomes her babysitter. Both are white, and the book focusses on privilege, mostly in terms of wealth. It has similar vibes to Such a Fun Age but is much clumsier in its execution. Neither character really learns over the course of the book. The plot also shifts to flashbacks a fair bit which makes it a little messy to read at times.

Elisabeth's story is that she is married to Andrew who just quit his job to be an inventor and it's not going very well. She's from a rich family but is reluctant to accept finances from her Dad who is a jerk. Through this lens she thinks she's had to work her way to get to where she is, misleading Sam with her stories of her time in New York trying to succeed in her writing career.

Sam is an artist who comes from modest means. She's at a women's college where most of the other girls are rich, but Sam has to work to pay her way. She works in the dining room with women of colour, and takes on a job as Elisabeth's baby-sitter. Sam also has a boyfriend who lives in London, though he's more than 10 years older and a bit of a waste of space to be honest.

Sam and Elisabeth become friends - Sam in admiration of Elisabeth's life (a very rose tinted glasses perspective) and Elisabeth wants to help Sam, but hasn't made any adult friends so uses Sam as a friend rather than an employee.

The book could have been great, Sam goes through some recognition that even though she isn't wealthy she has privilege, but Elisabeth never really recognises that she's always had her Dad's money to fall back on even if she never actually takes it (though he did pay for her first apartment, which she forgets to mention). Sam is very naïve and has a very fairy-tale like ending that didn't feel very realistic (Such a Fun Age's epilogue worked much better, I find it weird that the books follow such similar structures).

Overall, had lots of messages but don't really pull them off.

Friends and Strangers is a character driven tale of the interactions between the two main protagonists Elisabeth and Sam.

Elisabeth is a new mother who has relocated with her husband from Brooklyn to an upstate small college town. She hails from a wealthy but tangled family background and her husband is chasing his dreams. Sam is a college student who, while struggling to keep up with her wealthy friends, drops her job in the dorm canteen to be be a nanny for Elisabeth’s baby. The relationship between Elisabeth and Sam sits at the heart of the narrative and sweeps along the other characters in the book. In particular is the tricky boundaries between employer/employee, mentor/friend, lonely/naive as the narrative unravels.

I found the book hugely enjoyable albeit both Elisabeth and Sam were tricky to like. It highlights issues of economic and social class imbalance well and the plot reminded me of the excellent Such A Fun Age. I thought an extra edit could have shorn 10-20% from the text for a slicker read. A sturdy 3.5*.

Thanks to Two Roads, Hachette and Netgalley for the review copy.

We all go through different stages in life, wanting to be older so we have more control over our lives, college years, starting jobs, marriage, children, promotions and finally old age. What happens when three stages combined with secrets collide in a family and care giving setting.
Money or lack of money can define choices at all stages of life and this is honestly and sometimes painfully explored by the well rounded people in the story. I could relate to all of the life stages even though I have not yet reached the oldest stage.
Enjoy and think about the back story I did.

“Friends and Strangers” is one of those books that is very difficult to describe. If you try to list events in it, you wouldn’t come up with much. But you come out of the end of it feeling like so much has happened.

The book switches between the perspectives of the two main characters. Elizabeth is a writer, married to Andrew and they have a baby boy, Gil - they have just moved from their city life in Brooklyn to the comparative quiet life of the suburbs to be nearer to Andrew’s parents and so that he can pursue his entrepreneurial dream. Sam is their newly employed baby sitter who is in her final year at the local women’s college/university. She struggles with the financial demands of student life which are exasperated by the fact that most of the other students at the college are well off. She is also struggling with decisions over her future, not least her long distance relationship with Clive who she met on holiday in London.

Elizabeth and Sam start off as employer and employee but quickly develop a friendship in which each helps the other. But after a while, the lines begin to blur and both end up getting over involved and things begin to unravel.

I absolutely loved this book. It felt like a really detailed look into the lives of these two characters. The way you find out about the events and viewpoints through each perspective is really interesting and while, as I said, not a lot happens, I read it so quickly because I was desperate to find out more. You don’t necessarily find out everything about both Elizabeth and Sam and (without saying too much) it is not a neat ending. But as we’re only visiting them briefly in their world, it was spot on.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

This book lost me so many times, and I tried to pick it up and get back into the read, but though I could just pick it back up, it really felt like there wasn't much compelling to keep me there, to make me want to come back. I get that many can love the kind of 'doldrum normalcy' that is covered in this text relating to the protagonist, but it wasn't my cup of tea and I just couldn't keep on investing time and effort into this book when it was taking me nowhere but staying in place, so to speak

As mentioned previously, I think this book had a good-paced and interesting beginning, but after that it fell a bit flat for me. Following two women - a mother struggling with her relationship and becoming a mother and her babysitter, a college student trying to find her future path. I really liked the beginning and that the characters were not extremely likeable and were depicted as imperfect. Still, I would have liked a bit more character development and in the end I just could not feel I connected fully to the story or the book. I kept waiting it to lead to something or have a bit of more progression. I can see many people liking the female relationships and struggles these women have.

Thank you netgalley and John Murray Press for my e-copy.

A good read about a friendship between two women who are at different stages of life with little in common. Elizabeth is in early motherhood and adjusting to living in the suburbs after living in New York. Sam is a student who starts babysitting for Elizabeth's son. By no means a plot driven novel but is a great character novel about an intense friendship between women. I really enjoyed it!

I really really struggle to read this book. I started to read it weeks ago but I’ve ended up putting it on the back burner. The story is so slow and to be totally honest very boring, so much so I really don’t think I will finish the book. I don’t like to give up on books but I’m afraid that is what I am going to do with this book. The synopsis for the book sounds really good, which you can see below. But for me it just didn’t live up to my expectations and I didn’t find it hilarious like other reviewers have.

I actually regret how quickly I raced through this beautifully written novel. An exceptionally human, slow-paced and fragile read which manages to still be accessible and so easily readable. It highlights privilege, inequality, motherhood, social class, friendship and first love - I’ve highlighted dozens of lines that I know I’ll keep going back to. I want to carry on reading about Sam and Elisabeth and their lives forever and I just never wanted it to end. Beautiful. Thank you so much to Net Galley for the ARC; I can’t wait to seek out everything else written by J Courtney Sullivan.

I loved the author’s novel Maine and think she’s a very good writer but sadly after a strong start, this felt underwhelming and overfamiliar to me. It didn’t help that nothing about Sam’s British boyfriend Clive rang true (not even his name) and so I couldn’t invest in their relationship at all. It didn’t stop me reading to the end and it wouldn’t put me off trying another novel.