GOOD COMPANY

Good Company is an insightful, engaging new novel that subtly examines the inherent power imbalance in even the closest of relationships. In this story of two couples, Flora, an actress happily married for two decades, is forced to confront the past when she finds a wedding band her husband Julian claimed to have lost years ago. Just as their daughter is set to leave for college, Flora must re-examine her (mostly) charmed life - and whether her marriage, her dearest friendship and her vision of herself are what she always imagined them to be.

What would *you* do? is the most obvious question this novel asks of its readers. But it begs other, more delicate questions too - like whether even treasured relationships are inherently tenuous, fraught with tiny seeds of resentment that linger, threatening to bloom. It made me wonder too whether the tension between self preservation and self centeredness can be reconciled, because these characters show quite a bit of both. They’re complicated and real; they’re disappointing and they’re triumphant. They often view the setbacks of those closest to them - a betrayal, loss of a job, a health crisis - in terms of how it affects their own lives. But they are also just trying to figure it all out: marriage, parenthood, friendship. This story reveals many ways life can be messy, and that resurfacing from that mess can be thrilling. It was refreshing to read a book with individuals who are making their way toward their truest, most authentic selves, together.

In the final pages of this book, Julian makes breakfast at his theater company’s summer outpost, with muffins, blueberry pancakes, omelets and bacon. The meal sounds magnificent in only the way a rustic country breakfast can, and inspired these homemade blueberry muffins. Stirring the dense, delicious batter heavy with blueberries made me feel I was right there at that Stoneham table.