Friends With Issues

By: Meredith Berlin

ISBN: 978-1-957723-72-3

Warren Publishing (2023)

This is a novel with an interesting plot, and considerable possibility, but it’s ultimately emotionally shallow and unsatisfying.

Nick and Susan have been married a long time, although they’re largely going through the motions now. It’s been years since they slept together. Both have regular affairs with others, and it’s questionable whether they still love each other. But their partnership makes for a comfortable day to day life, and so they continue, each aware of the others’ infidelity.

Elizabeth was initially Nick’s friend. A talented magazine editor, she and he (the financial backer) made a great success of a magazine together. Elizabeth has retired, though. A MS diagnosis, and the effects, have made it impossible for her to continue such a demanding job. But now, Nick is trying to entice her back. He’s found a failing magazine to buy, and he thinks that Elizabeth could help him turn it around.

At a dinner party, Elizabeth introduces Nick to her friend Brooke. Brooke is not in a great place. She’s realizing that her husband hasn’t kicked his addictions, their money is running out, and their daughters may be at risk with her husband. It’s hardly surprising that she’s attracted to Nick.

A rather lack lustre tale of entangled relationships, personal and professional, commences.

One of the challenges of a novel like this is that readers really need to either like or identify with (or ideally both) at least one character. Unfortunately, while a couple of the characters were mildly likeable, none of them were really engaging. Even more important, none of them were really the kinds of people you can identify with.

For example, let’s take Brooke. She’s a lawyer who stopped working to be a stay at home mum. But when she realizes that her husband is a drug addict, and their money is rapidly running out, does she get a job? No. She starts using semi precious stones in her metalwork instead of precious jewels. That’s not a particularly relatable reaction.

The entire novel is emotionally shallow, skimming the surface of what could be a moving and interesting set of relationships. If the author took us far enough into their emotional lives, the lack of relatability wouldn’t matter. Unfortunately, she fails. I never felt a character come to life, shared their emotions, or even felt for them. I just didn’t care.

Indeed, when significant events happen, like Nick’s death (this is explicitly foretold in the first sentence, so this is no spoiler), none of the characters really seem to respond much. It’s shown to us at quite a distance, and it’s hard to care because no-one else seems to.

There are strengths here. Berlin writes vividly of the processes involved in producing a magazine, and of many of the aspects of metal working. She also depicts the emotions involved in becoming disabled, and of having a disability where the effects can vary from day to day, vividly.  In fact, this may be the best part of this novel. Her depiction of Elizabeth and her day to day struggles is empathetic and real. It is the closest thing the novel has to an emotional centre, although it appears that it’s supposed to be incidental to the main plot.

I found this readable, but not truly enjoyable. I found it hard to care about any of the characters and found the lack of emotional connection distractingly obvious throughout.