The Best of Friends
Penguin Audiobooks, $16.95
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REVIEW BY MICHAEL SIMS
There is a conspiracy afoot. The publicity material accompanying Joanna Trollope's splendid new novel, The Best of Friends, tries to present Trollope as merely a woman's novelist, risking the condescension such categories imply. It describes her books as a "secret pleasure" and a "guilty delight." Wherein lies the secrecy and guilt is not explained. Do not be fooled by this marketing ploy. Joanna Trollope's novels are not feverish little romances. Just remember that years before Trollope was catching on in the U.S. (she is practically a household name in England), all sorts of critics were praising her sensitivity to social nuance and strength of characterization. She is a genuine writer, a worthy descendant of Frances and Anthony. If you haven't read a Trollope novel yet, you may have seen one of them adapted on PBS -- perhaps the popular The Rector's Wife. If not, The Best of Friends is a wonderful place to start. Like her other contemporary novels, it describes a cross-section of a community, particularly a couple of families and the shifting alliances between them. Trollope excells at bringing to life several generations and allowing their varied perspectives to illuminate each other. She documents the frustrations of teenagers with the same precision and empathy that animate her elderly characters. What is most impressive about her writing is that she performs this legerdemain with the lightest touch, as if anyone could do it. And she does so with an ironic, Olympean sense of humor reminiscent of Jane Austen's. The Best of Friends is the story of Gina, whose husband suddenly abandons her and their teenage daughter Sophy; of Sophy's own coming-of-age; of Gina's longtime friend Laurence, who ultimately falls in love with her; and of Laurence's wife, Hilary, and their own children. We meet Gina's mother Vi, who at 80 is cautiously discovering love again in her retirement community, and Hilary and Laurence's son Gus, who at 14 is hopelessly infatuated with Sophy. Trollope makes these sad, ordinary events seem new and fresh. Like most serious writers, Trollope has chosen to explore the oldest subject -- the ancient human muddle of desire and yearning for a better life. There are no original stories; only individual visions, fresh candor, and a signature style. Joanna Trollope offers all three. Michael Sims is the author of Darwin's Orchestra (Henry Holt).
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