Bonnie G.'s Reviews > Friends and Strangers

I liked how Sullivan approached the subject of class difference -- not just as defined by dollars and cents, but as defined by the presence of choices. Education gives us choices. I spend my days surrounded by lawyers -- some of us have 7 and 8 figure incomes as partners in large law firms, some of us have spent our careers in government so we are getting by, some of us (like me) work in higher ed so we are broke :) But we still hang out together, take trips together (where i get to stay at their beach and mountain houses), and basically do the same things with our spare time. We have choices and we have similar standards, values and tastes. Class distinctions are more subtle than merely looking at income, and Sullivan explores this. Not deeply, but she goes there, and most things I read do not. I was particularly pleased with the relationship between Sam and the cafeteria workers at the college (Smith I assume.) This was not just a book about relationships between parents and nannies (which gets written about a lot) but about those with post-high school educations from elite institutions vs. state colleges vs. those none or with community college degrees. Its about the divide between those who live in large cities and those that live far outside of them, between those who work in jobs they want and those that have to work at whatever is available to feed themselves and those under their care. Structurally I felt the resolution, or really the lack of resolution, of this story was well done, as was the fairly subtle nod to how we grow and learn about ourselves and others with the passage of time. (Sullivan also really nailed the overeducated mommy facebook page conversation and the personalities of the usual suspects thereon. )

There were also things that I thought were not well handled. I won't go through a list of complaints, but a lot of my problems with the book come down to me being frustrated beyond belief with Elisabeth as a character. For someone who over-analyzed everything, it was frustrating that she did not seem to ever give a moment's thought to her own actions for most of the book. Her actions just did not feel realistic for that character for most of the story. Maybe we were just supposed to see someone who, though likeable on short acquaintance, lied and manipulated people to get whatever she wanted and judged harshly everyone but herself, but I don't think that is what Sullivan intended. In the end I felt that Sullivan fell down on drawing Elisabeth and since she is our shepherd through the story everything suffered as a result.

This was a really flawed book that still has a lot to recommend it. I am glad i spent time with it.