Monday, January 1, 2007

An Enjoyable Story about the Value of Friendship


Between Friends is the story of 2 girls that became friends at the age of 5 and remained best friends all their lives. The entire book was written in the format of letters, journal entries, newspaper clippings, emails, announements and notes. It was a strange format, and yet it seemed to give us a deeper glimpse into the lives of these 2 very different women.
Lesley grew up the oldest of 6 kids in a working class family. Her dad spent more time out of work than he did employeed, and her mom had to learn to live with him and all his faults. Jillian, the only child of Judge and his wife, grew up in the lap of luxary. And yet, through time and completely different circumstances, they stayed friends. Lesley got pregnant in high school and had to give up her dream of getting a scholarship and going to college. She got married to Buck, a carbon-copy of her father. Jillian went away to college, pining for the "man of her dreams", Nick....a mechanic that her parents felt wasn't good enough for her. Her plans of marriage and children with Nick were suddenly shattered when he received his draft forms for Vietnam.
This book encompasses decades in the lives of these 2 friends, through marriage, children, divorce, death and war. At times a little sappy and at times very touching, I found this book very enjoyable. 4/5

4 comments:

moonbeam said...

I've never read any of her books, but your review of this one, Steph, has me hooked. I'm also intrigued about the format and it sounds like the time period and girls ages may mirror my own. Here's another one for the TBR pile. Thanks a lot! LOL!

Chris said...

Hey Stephanie! The blog looks good. I'll keep checking in.

Shilo said...

I really enjoyed BETWEEN FRIENDS. It was my first Macomber book and I've been reading them ever since!

Kailana said...

hm, not my normal author, but the format of the book sounds interesting. I am going to add it to my list. Have to break out of the comfort zone once in a while after all.