Girls, I Loved It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

                        It took me long enough to discover Sullivan's "Saints For All Occasions,"  which just warmed the cockles of my Catholic heart.  So, when I saw she had a new novel, "Friends And Strangers," out, I instantly snapped it up.

                         This is a beautifully nuanced character study of two women at different points in their lives.  What is interesting is that Sullivan injects variations into them one would not expect.

                             Sam, the younger, is a senior student at a woman's college, who dreams of a career in an art gallery.  But she is also more traditionally thinking than some of her friends, like Isabella, who comes from a life style and world of wealth Sam cannot begin to imagine.  And when a handsome Britisher, named Clive, enters Sam's life, her world is turned topsy turvy.

                              Elisabeth is sort of what Sam wants to be a decade or so later.   She is married, had a promising writing career with The New York Times, and enjoyed affluent life in Brooklyn.  For her husband, Andrew's, sake, she moves to a suburban enclave, where she does not seem to fit in, despite everyone being as nice as they can be to her.  However, she is more forward thinking, almost Bohemian, than most in her age group.

                                When Elisabeth hires Sam to babysit/nanny for her toddler, Gil, their worlds clash, revealing cracks in Elisabeth's marriage, disparity in she and Andrew's backgrounds, and a tendency to get over involved in Sam's life, which succeeds in driving them apart.

                                   Do things work out?  Are the right decisions made?

                                   Sullivan tackles the issues and answers questions with her compelling gift for character study that made 'Saints' so memorable.

                                     But, if you want to find out more, darlings, you are going to have to read the book.

                                       Which I urge you to do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!