We need to look at the past, just don't stare
Not only did I enjoy this book, I am haunted (in a pleasant way) with the unanswered questions. I like ambivalence, imbalance and ambiguity. If you enjoy reading about ordinary people involved in less than ordinary events you might just be haunted rather than frustrated when you turn the last page. Excellent for a book club choice with many topics ripe for exploration...bullying, inert parents, self doubt, stifling home towns.
Rated of 5
by Patricia M. (Highland Heights, OH)
The False Friend by Myla Goldberg
"The False Friend" explores what it is like to suddenly find that you need to revisit a tragedy of your past and as you try to explore what really happened you begin to find out who you were and that may come as something contrary to what you believed you were. As Celia revisits her past and looks up the people involved, she finds that things are not and were not what they seemed. Some of this is reminiscent of someone looking back at "Mean Girls" and wondering how it all happened.
Ms. Goldberg explores this topic with great insight and the reader begins to wonder what would happen if they went back to speak frankly to the friends they left behind. The book is thought provoking and well written.
Rated of 5
by Janet Schneider, Great Neck Library, NY
The Consequences of Bullying
In 'The False Friend', one morning on the way to her Chicago job Celia Dunst has a flashback to a tragic event 21 years earlier which resulted in the disappearance of her best friend Djuna Pearson. Galvanized by the need to confirm her long-repressed memories of the incident and her role in it, Celia searches for evidence in a visit back to her hometown in upstate New York. There the horrible truth about the Queen Bee-bullying behavior she participated in during her 11th year is revealed through Roshoman-style different perspectives from her family, childhood friends and Djuna’s mother.
How did the Celia at age 11 turn into the Celia at age 32? A gracefully-told story of gaining closure and facing hard truths, 'The False Friend' takes a thought-provoking and believable look at bullying behavior in young girls—at the consequences of trauma suffered by the target of bullying and also at the dynamics which lead to the behavior itself.
As the mother of two daughters now in their older teens, I was riveted by 'The False Friend'.
Rated of 5
by Linda C. (Carlisle, MA)
The False Friend
Myla Goldberg captured my interest in the first pages of "The False Friend" as she brought me into a jolting and raw memory of an episode from the childhood of the main character, Celia. From there her story carried me through a very slow and painful reentry into the world of Celia's worst nightmare. Goldberg's ability to immerse me in some very mercurial childhood relationships while also bringing me home to reenter the relationships with Celia's parents and boyfriend shows her strength as a writer in making the reader share intimately in her relationships. Life is not always what it seems is an apt wrap up to her intense exploration to find a deep truth. It was a compelling story!
Rated of 5
by Dana W. (Elbridge, NY)
The False Friend
Memories "light the corners of my mind" until they suddenly rip into real life to send you on a search of what really happened. "Misty, water-colored" become murky and dark as the journey toward the truth takes many twists and turns. "The way we were" is not necessarily the way we were but perhaps what we believed is the way it was.
The book started out immediately drawing the reader in ,wanting to know more and then it gradually slowed down to a more even pace still leaving enough unanswered questions for the reader to want to continue until all the loose ends were tied up. But were they? Memories.... friends...
P.S. I live in Syracuse
Rated of 5
by Annette S. (Duluth, GA)
The False Friend
Have you done something as a youth and now in your adult years you feel the need to correct or amend it? That is the problem for Celia in "The False Friend". When she returns to the place of her early years she is thwarted in her attempts to make amends. Goldberg's portrayal of the young girls inter-actions with each other was very accurate. Her other main characters, Celia's parents and boyfriend were weak and too self-centered to help. I enjoyed Goldberg's occasion challenging vocabulary (zoetrope, divaricated, and augury). Confronting one's past in order to attain peace in one's life makes an interesting plot for this book.
Rated of 5
by Florence K. (Encino, California)
The False Friend
Crisp dialogue and well-delineated characters make this book a fast and keep-your-interest read. The aftermath of a twenty-one year old fateful event makes for a buildup of suspense and an interest in knowing what actually happened. It will lead to spirited discussions by book clubs.
A bold, mesmerizing novel about the woman known as "Typhoid Mary," the first known healthy carrier of typhoid fever in the burgeoning metropolis of early twentieth century New York.
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight...
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Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on...
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Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read...
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British Parliament asks Amazon to clarify why it pays $9 million in income tax on $23 billion of UK sales.(May 20 2013) Amazon will be called back to give further evidence to members of the British Parliament "to clarify how its activities in the U.K. justify its low corporate...
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of 5
by Barbara F. (Saint Louis, MO)
of 5
by Linda C. (Carlisle, MA)
