Books I've Read; Chosen Family

 

I was sent this one by NetGalley, so thanks, NetGalley.

It's an Australian book, set in Sydney and follows a friendship between two girls/women across decades.  The story is told in a non-linear way, so we get hints of the future while still following the girls' early years in the past.

Eve and Nell meet at the age of twelve.  Eve is new to school and instantly attracts attention because of her super-short hair.  Nell, who has always been kind of an outcast, is fascinated by this newcomer who seems utterly unafraid of anything.  They soon become best friends, but there is always something more underlying that friendship.  

During high school, that "something" becomes more palpable and leads to the pair breaking apart, something that is devastating to Eve who finishes high school friendless, struggling to understand herself and her sexuality.  

At university, she reinvents herself, finds her crowd amongst the queer community and finally begins to live the life she's always known she deserves.   So it's a shock when Nell appears at a party she's throwing, still the same as she always has been.  The friendship re-kindles, but that underlying "something" is still there.

Throughout the years, Nell and Eve will continue to be drawn to one another, to love one another and to hurt one another.  Their friendship is the bedrock of their lives, but it isn't as solid and sturdy as they'd like to think it is.

Eve is often unnecessarily cruel to Nell, who takes this cruelty without questioning it.  As the more outgoing of the pair, she's brash and often thoughtless and headstrong in her decision making.  Her idea is always the best idea....even when it isn't.

And Nell never really grows up from the twelve-year-old she once was, so pathetically grateful to finally have a friend she'll do anything at all to keep her close.

I enjoyed this book even though the characters often frustrated me in their inability to just talk about the things that constantly simmered under the surface.  So many of the things that hurt each of them could so easily have been fixed if they'd just talked to each other about their feelings.  But I guess, the things that matter most are always the hardest things to talk about.

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

Books about friendship are not often described as love stories, but this is one.
At the age of twelve, Nell has accepted that hers will likely be a friendless existence. She's not interested in boys or makeup or competing to see who can eat the least - so fitting in at her all-girls' school feels impossible.

But then, a new girl arrives at school.

Eve has short hair like a boy's, a wicked sense of humour and an unshakable confidence that she will find her place in the world. And the moment they meet, Nell begins to rethink the whole friendless existence thing.

As they grow into themselves, Nell and Eve will love each other and hurt each other - through the chlorine-scented savagery of adolescence; long, drunken nights in share houses and gay bars; the highs and lows of parenthood.

And always, despite unspoken feelings and sexual confusion, they will choose each other. Again, and again. As friends, as lovers, as family.