The Friend
2018 • 213 pages
Ratings9
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings9
Average rating3.9
When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is intensified by the mute suffering of the dog, a huge Great Dane traumatized by the inexplicable disappearance of its master, and by the threat of eviction: dogs are prohibited in her apartment building. While others worry that grief has made her a victim of magical thinking, the woman refuses to be separated from the dog except for brief periods of time. Isolated from the rest of the world, increasingly obsessed with the dog's care, determined to read its mind and fathom its heart, she comes dangerously close to unraveling. But while troubles abound, rich and surprising rewards lie in store for both of them.
Reviews with the most likes.
Once in a while you read the right book at the right time. This book was it for me. A woman who is a writer is mourning the suicide of her closest friend, another writer. The dead man's third wife asks the narrator to take her husband's dog, a Great Dane that she never wanted and doesn't connect with. The dog also appears to be grieving. The woman and the dog, Apollo, make their way together in her tiny apartment in a building that doesn't allow pets.
This is not a sentimental story about how dogs heal our griefs with their love. For one thing, Great Danes have a short lifespan of only 5-7 years, and Apollo is already at least 5 years old. We know more death and grief are in store for the narrator. Also, Apollo is feeling the grief of his human's loss too. He needs quite a lot of care himself.
It IS a quiet story about coping with the shock and loss of suicide. It's also about writers and whether writing is an honorable vocation. It's very readable, and I loved it.
I liked it, but there's a reason why novels about writers are problematic. It's a fine character study, but there isn't enough story here to back it up.
