Asking For A Friend

This is a well-written, character-driven story about the bond between two women who first meet in university. The story follows Jess and Clara through the ups and downs, the life changes, loves and losses that impact their decades-long friendship.

Beginning when they meet in university and continuing for two decades, we witness how their once close friendship experiences transitions when Jess and Clara's lives diverge as they start careers, marry, and have children. They now have different outlooks in life, disparate financial security and motherhood styles and soon find themselves growing apart physically and emotionally for periods at a time. But through the struggles and the joys, Clare shows the complexities of female friendship and its enduring nature as these bonds change, grow and hopefully strengthen.

This is a book that will make you want to connect with your girlfriends who knew you 'back when'. The ones that held your hand when that boy didn't like you back, didn't mock you for that horrid perm your Nana gave you in Grade 6 and made you laugh so much you had milk come out your nose. These are the friendships where you pick up right where you left off, regardless of the time that has passed. These women are your people!

This new book by Toronto-based author Kerry Clare explores the pivotal female friendships that pull us through life's changes, helping us weather the traumatic times and bask in the amazing nature and power of female friendship. Asking For A Friend takes a raw and unabashed look at the joys, challenges and different experiences we have as mothers and tackles important social topics impacting women today - including the right to choose, miscarriage, motherhood, breastfeeding and the emotional, physical and social toll of motherhood - making it an excellent choice for book clubs.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to DoubleDay Books and Penguin Random House Canada for the advanced copy of this book which was given in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating: 4 stars

Author: Kerry Clare

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Canadian

Type and Source: Trade Paperback from publisher

Publisher: DoubleDay Canada

First Published: September 5, 2023

Book Description from GoodReads: For readers of J. Courtney Sullivan and Emma Straub, and for fans of Firefly Lane , comes a poignant and astute novel about life, love, and the ever-evolving nature of female friendship by the author of Waiting for a Star to Fall .

The bottom of Jess’s world is falling out. Cocooned in her dorm in the winter of 1998, she’s reeling, and wants to be left alone. But a chance encounter with the older, otherworldly, elusive Clara has Jess awestruck. Clara, newly returned from a two-year trek drifting around the world, is taking a stab at normalcy for once, and the place she starts is university, where she struggles to fit in. Upon meeting Jess, though, Clara feels an instant connection, and everything seems brighter. Soon, the two are inseparable, undeniable necessities in each other’s lives. But when tragedy strikes, they are unceremoniously torn apart, sent tumbling down different paths. And with each passing day, their unbreakable bond is tested more and more.

As they endure love and heartbreak, marriage, anxiety and isolation, and the complicated existence of motherhood, Jess and Clara must learn how to love each other through it all—and whether growing up inevitably means growing apart.

Spanning two decades, Asking for a Friend follows the tempestuous journey of female friendship, exploring whether its fundamentals—history, familiarity, loyalty—are enough to make the relationship everlasting.