Audiobook16 hours
Best Friends: A Novel
Written by Martha Moody
Narrated by Renée Raudman
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
Before arriving at Oberlin in 1973, Clare Mann had never met anyone like Sally Rose. Rich and beautiful, Sally is utterly foreign to a middle-class, Midwestern Protestant like Clare-and utterly fascinating. The fascination only grows when Sally brings her home to L.A. Mr. Rose-charismatic, charming, and the owner of a profitable business shrouded in secrecy-is nearly as compelling a figure to Clare as he is to his own daughter. California seems like paradise after winters in Ohio. And Clare begins to look forward desperately to these visits, to carefree rides in Sally's Kharmann Ghia and lazy poolside days.
As the years pass, Clare becomes a doctor and Sally a lawyer, always remaining roommates at heart, only a plane ride or phone call away. Marriages and divorces and births and deaths do not separate them. But secrets might-for as Clare watches, the Rose family begins to self-destruct before her eyes. And the things she knows are the kinds of things that no one wants to tell a best friend.
As the years pass, Clare becomes a doctor and Sally a lawyer, always remaining roommates at heart, only a plane ride or phone call away. Marriages and divorces and births and deaths do not separate them. But secrets might-for as Clare watches, the Rose family begins to self-destruct before her eyes. And the things she knows are the kinds of things that no one wants to tell a best friend.
Author
Martha Moody
Manuel Antonio Garreton, one of Latin America's foremost political sociologists, is professor of sociology at the University of Chile. He is author and editor of more than three dozen books.
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Reviews for Best Friends
Rating: 3.375 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
8 ratings8 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Oberlin College, Ohio, 1973 - When Clare Mann arrives at Oberlin, she is absolutely ecstatic to be on her own finally. She lives in a small Ohio town somewhere between Akron and Youngstown, but the novelty of being even an hour away from home thrills her. Clare first meets Sally Rose - a transplant from Los Angeles - at freshman orientation and they are basically thrown together as college roommates. Clare, the daughter of a Protestant, working-class family from Ohio, has never met anyone like her new roommate, Sally. Wealthy and beautiful; and Jewish, Sally is barely emancipated from her close-knit Los Angeles family, and has led an otherwise sheltered life. She is utterly foreign to the hard-working, jaded Clare - and utterly fascinating. Clare's fascination with Sally only intensifies, when she brings Clare home to Los Angeles to meet the Rose family. Sid Rose, Sally's father, is charismatic, charming; the owner of a profitable business which is shrouded in secrecy. He is almost as compelling a figure to Clare as he is to his own daughter. California seems like a veritable paradise after spending winters in Ohio; and soon Clare begins to look forward to these visits with an almost desperate enthusiasm; to the numerous carefree rides in Sally's Kharmann Ghia and the seemingly endless lazy days spent poolside. Despite their many differences, the free-spirited Clare and a frequently homesick Sally soon overcome their mutual bafflement with each other to form an extraordinary friendship; a complicated, but tenacious bond that endures through the years. As the years pass, Clare becomes a doctor and Sally a lawyer; but they always remain roommates at heart, just a plane ride or a phone call away. Marriages and divorces, births and deaths do not separate them; but secrets just might - for as Clare watches, the Rose family begins to slowly disintegrate before her eyes. And the things she knows are the kinds of things that no one ever wants to tell a best friend. I thoroughly enjoyed this book; the story was totally engrossing and I almost didn't want it to end. With the various plot twists, intrigue, secrets and intricate family dynamics, this story held my interest right until the end. As I've said before, I always enjoy reading stories about families, and most especially about the enduring friendships between women. I give Best Friends by Martha Moody an A+! This is Ms. Moody's debut novel, and I'm delighted to say that I have her next book - The Office of Desire - somewhere on my bookshelf as well. In my opinion, she is quite an excellent writer.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm not sure how I felt about this book. Just finished it for book club, and I think it'll make a fairly good discussion book, but after a rather long read, I didn't get a very good feeling of closure at the end of the book. It covered a lot of ground, lots of topics, but the way the author jumped back & forth in time was sort of confusing at times. I found I could relate to Clare's character, but not to Sally's really at all. And considering they were supposed to be best friends, I never felt like they were really very "close." For me, it's a hard one to rate.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5An "OK" read. Although I found it gloomy the story did have characters that will stay with me for a while. The story spans the decades of friendship after these college roommates meet through weddings, divorces, children and deaths loved ones.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Another Discworld offering - perfect antidote for the stresses of daily life. Moist von Lipwig, Postmaster General, has got the postal system up and running, and is getting a bit bored. Lord Vetinari has just the right job for him: running the Royal Mint and the Ankh-Morpork Bank. Moist would rather refuse, but when Vetinari has set his mind on something...Not Pratchett's best book ever, but still more than good enough for me. Glad to say there is no sign of Alzheimer here.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Why I chose this book: I found this book at the local second hand book store....I enjoyed reading the back....and thought I would give it a chance. What I thought: I thought it was an o.k. book, with an o.k. story, but about 250 pages too long.......wanted to give up numerous times, but kept thinking the big ending would be coming soon--it never did:(
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I loved the way this story was formulated. I loved the difference between the two characters and how they played off of each other and often were baffled by one another. The views into the different lives of the characters, seeing how their life experiences shaped their natures as the book went on. It was a very dramatic story, perhaps overly so, but I enjoyed it quite a lot.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I was really into the book in the beginning. I resopected the author so much for keeping the story very true to life but towards the middle I just lost interest. Too many things kept happening and it started to read like a summary of events.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The good: great story of college roomates from the 1970s and the twists and turns of their lives over the next few decades. A strong friendship is realistically portrayed....The not-so-good: Life is complicated but did the author have to include pornography, theft, drug abuse, homosexuality, adultry, and murder? Felt like I was watching a soap opera......A Beach Read ........