To My Dearest Friends (Vintage Contemporaries)
by Patricia Volk
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Book Summary Information
Author: Patricia VolkEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-04-08
ISBN: 0307275744
Number of pages: 187
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of To My Dearest Friends (Vintage Contemporaries)
Book Review: Wonderful read for women in midlife years
Summary: 5 Stars
I read Patricia Volk's memoir, Stuffed, several years ago and remember thinking that she described people so well that I felt I had really seen or met them. She has used same ability to bring characters to life in this recent novel.
The book begins in a rather confusing way. Two women who don't know each other are requested to be at a lawyer's office to receive the key to a safety deposit box that belonged to a mutual good friend, Roberta, who recently died from breast cancer. With each chapter, Volk alternates voices between Nanny and Alice, the two women. The letter they receive is addressed "To My Dearest Friends," but in fact is a love letter to Roberta/Bobbie from an unknown person. Nanny and Alice need to decide what to do with this information - keep it a secret from Roberta's husband and daughter? Find out whom the letter was from? Do nothing? The meet for lunch several times to ponder these questions.
Patricia Volk describes a New York City that seems like a pleasant place to live - lunches at Bergdorf's, shopping in boutiques, and most daily needs within walking distance. Nanny is a real estate agent who is helping a couple find a suitable apartment to buy. Alice owns a boutique where "gently" worn clothing is sold on consignment. These women are over fifty, their children are grown and Nanny is a widow. Yet Volk gives them full, intense and interesting lives.
I think that Volk has created a novel that combines humor, pathos, beauty, confusion and life stage changes in a way that is truly enjoyable. I would recommend it to anyone, but especially to women in their midlife years.
Armchair Interviews agrees.
Summary of To My Dearest Friends (Vintage Contemporaries)
Alice and Nanny have never met before, but they have one thing in common: their late friend Roberta. Alice is the prim proprietor of a chic Madison Avenue shop, while Nanny is a sharp-eyed Manhattan real-estate broker. This New York odd couple is thrown together when Roberta trusts them with her last request?that together they open her safe-deposit box. What they find inside compels these women to address a surprising truth about their beloved Roberta. A profound yet hilarious novel, To My Dearest Friends is the story of two women and a journey of friendship neither chose to take.Women's Fiction Books
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