The Friends by Ava Black
What's It About?
“The word ‘friend’ gets thrown around like a disposable toy. It’s not. It’s everything when you’re someone who has nothing. It’s a confidant, a partner in crime, a lover, an escape, a caregiver and someone who brings joy that makes troubles disappear.”Spoken by one of the three protagonists near the end of Ava Black’s intoxicating The Friends, it might be unclear as one reads through the pages whether the book’s title is sincere or sarcastic. Perhaps “partners in crime” is the best reference, as the book traces the perilous exploits of Valarie (privileged and popular), Marlene (struggling to fit in) and Hope (mired in drugs and trouble), first in high school and then jumping to current times.
Interestingly, Marlene, who becomes a writer, asks Hope what she thinks of her first book: “Too neat and tidy. Life isn’t like that.”
Nor is the plot of The Friends. In fact, it has many tentacles, plot twists, relationships to understand and motives to decipher.
TRAGEDY FOR TEENS, ABSOLUTION FOR ADULTS
It opens during the girls’ high school days and centers around a bonfire party in the woods near Valarie’s farmhouse in which Tom, a star football player, goes missing. What happened to him and who, if anyone, is responsible?
Those are the million-dollar questions, and the list of potential collaborators is a long one, starting with our three girls — Valarie, who at one point is asked to marry Tom to help two families save face and solve some financial issues; Marlene, looking to gain favor with the “in” crowd by finagling a bottle of whiskey that sends Tom reeling; and Hope, who might be involved in cleaning up a mess to assure her well-being and support her ugly vices.
It should be noted that early in the story, it is revealed that Valarie suffers from ALS, and her days are numbered. This provides Black with an interesting opportunity to sway the narrative through the mindset of a character whose motivations, on the one hand, are short-term and, on the other, are driven by a desire to leave a clean legacy in her remaining days.
While the author offers up a fine blend of supporting characters, two notable ones are Judith, Valarie’s hardly warm and fuzzy mother who manipulates as she goes to advance to her personal objectives; and Sheriff McLallen, a local insider who tries to get to the root of a potential crime some 20 years later and whose intentions may or may not be legit.
THE PAST FOREVER FOLLOWS US FORWARD
This is a story with many moving parts and lots to unpack along the way. The characters are well defined, the writing is easy, and readers will enjoy the challenge to keep track of the primary theme and intricate subplots.
The three girls struggle with the events and implications surrounding the bonfire, and at various times, each tries to make amends with the other two for thoughts and deeds of the past. But is that even possible?
“What happened between us that night is decades old,” Marlene says to Hope. “It would be nice to find some middle ground so we could move forward.”
Hope, at least at that moment, isn’t buying it, and her words say a lot about what makes The Friends so compelling: “Closure is bullshit. Closure is for people who are dumb enough to believe it exists and rich enough to chase it. The past doesn’t close. It’s open 24/7.”
The Friends is available for purchase here.
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