Courtney Sullivan is one of our great literary treasures, and Friends and Strangers is permeated with her brilliance and heart.

Courtney Sullivan is a shrewd and sympathetic observer of our current cultural moment, with an unerring eye for the way that the unspoken realities of money and class can affect even our most intimate relationships.' -Tom Perrotta, best-selling author of The Leftovers 'J. Readers will be captivated by Sullivan's authentic portrait of modern motherhood.' -Publishers Weekly ' Friends and Strangers is a smart and deeply compelling exploration of female friendship and the complicated politics of motherhood and childcare. This perceptive novel about a complex friendship between two women resonates as broadly as it does deeply.' -Kirkus, starred 'Sullivan's intimate, incisive latest explores the evolving friendship between a new mother and her babysitter.

And while the story she tells focuses primarily on two women from different backgrounds and at different stages of life, it also illuminates broader issues about money, privilege, and class marriage, family, and friendship and the dueling demands of career and domesticity with which many women struggle. writes with empathy for her characters even as she reveals their flaws and shortcomings. A masterful exploration of motherhood, power dynamics, and privilege in its many forms, Friends and Strangers reveals how a single year can shape the course of a life.Ī SheReads Most Anticipated Book of 2020 'This book pokes at the sometimes troubling relationship between caregivers and mothers, and what starts out as a sweet and straightforward story evolves into something more nuanced and complex.' -Vogue 'Sullivan. But when Sam finds an unlikely kindred spirit in Elisabeth's father-in-law, the true differences between the women's lives become starkly revealed and a betrayal has devastating consequences. She's worried about student loan debt and what the future holds.

Sam is struggling to decide between the path she's always planned on and a romantic entanglement that threatens her ambition. Enter Sam, a senior at the local women's college, whom Elisabeth hires to babysit. She neglects her work, losing untold hours to her Brooklyn moms' Facebook group, her influencer sister's Instagram feed, and text messages with the best friend she never sees anymore. Alone in the house with her infant son all day (and awake with him much of the night), she feels uneasy, adrift. Elisabeth, an accomplished journalist and new mother, is struggling to adjust to life in a small town after nearly twenty years in New York City. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK An insightful, hilarious, and compulsively readable novel about a complicated friendship between two women who are at two very different stages in life, from the bestselling author of Maine and Saints for All Occasions.

Friends and strangers courtney sullivan