26 Aug / Rich and Pretty by Rumaan Alam [in Library Journal]
Best friends since age 11, Sarah and Lauren have gone from inseparable sleepovers and postcollege cohabitation to months without even seeing each other once they’re in their 30s. Casually labeled by a high school admirer as “rich and pretty,” the monikers have stuck: Sarah remains rich, her net worth making a paying job unnecessary; Lauren is still pretty, working in publishing, regularly discarding one-night-only lovers and potential partners.
Now Sarah’s getting married and wants Lauren as her maid of honor. Confronted with major life milestones, these two women who grew up together discover that decades of overlapping history might not guarantee lifelong intimacy.
Debut novelist Rumaan Alam, the gay son of Bangladeshi immigrants, with a white husband raising two black sons, couldn’t be more different from his protagonists, but he creates a savvy, stinging narrative about two white women – both privileged in their own ways – and the intersections and departures their relationship endures.
Verdict: Already ubiquitous on countless recommended lists, this might be better experienced on the page; reader Julie McKay proves disappointing, not giving either woman enough individuality to be memorable or distinctive.
Review: “Audio,” Library Journal, September 1, 2016
Readers: Adult
Published: 2016