Virtual Book Tour and Review: With Friends Like These by Sally Koslow

First line: Before husbands, before babies, before life claimed other loyalties, it started with a wish.

From the inside cover: When Quincy, Jules, Talia, and Chloe become New York City roommates in the early nineties, they become fast friends despite their drastically different personalities. Now, nearly twenty years later, their lives have diverged as much as they possibly can within one city: Quincy is mourning a miscarriage and lusting for the perfect Manhattan apartment; Jules, a woman with an outsize personality, is facing forty alone; Talia, married and the mother of a four-year-old, is her family’s reluctant breadwinner; and Chloe faces pressure from her hedge fund manager husband to be more ambitious. As these women grapple with the challenges of marriage, motherhood, careers, and real estate, they can’t help but assess their positions in life in comparison to each other–leading them to envy and disillusionment. Honest and entertaining, and written in Sally Koslow’s trademark wry, vivid prose, With Friends Like These asks serious questions about what makes female friendship endure, and to whom a woman’s loyalty most belongs.

My thoughts:  This is the story of four women, all in their late 30’s and early 40’s, who’ve been close friends since they shared an apartment in Manhattan in their unmarried days. Now, they are living separate lives, some married, some with children, some loving their job. Looking at a year in their lives, we see how their friendship has evolved and how they treat each other – not always the way friends should treat each other. Betraying confidences, taking job offers, and sabotaging real estate aspirations take their toll on the once-close friendships these women enjoyed. I loved how each chapter was told in first person alternating between the four women. You really get into their heads and get a true sense of who they each are. Each character was vividly written and I felt like they were my own friends by the end of the book. I also felt that each chapter left you hanging, so that you couldn’t help reading to find out more. Great book and I look forward to reading more of Sally Koslow’s books.

About the author: Sally Koslow is the author of The Late, Lamented Molly Marx and Little Pink Slips. Her essays have been published in More, The New York Observer, and O, The Oprah Magazine, among other publications. She was the editor in chief of both McCall’s and Lifetime, was an editor at Mademoiselle and Woman’s Day, and has taught creative writing at the Writing Institute of Sarah Lawrence College. The mother of two sons, she lives in New York City with her husband.

You can find more information about Sally by visiting her website.

I received a complimentary copy of With Friends Like These by Sally Koslow from Pump Up Your Book Promotion as part of the tour.