A review by jessgock
The False Friend by Myla Goldberg
4.0
Well, it's not [b:Bee Season|251762|Bee Season|Myla Goldberg|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173149520s/251762.jpg|2482870]. Myla Goldberg is a phenomenal writer, but I'm afraid I'm always going to want everything else she's written to be Bee Season - that perfect mix of psychology and philosophy and religion and wonder. The False Friend is all psychology, but is nevertheless truly fascinating in its milieu.
The False Friend deals with an adult remembering a long-repressed memory that changes the way she views herself and her childhood. Celia Durst's best friend Djuna got into a stranger's car one day in fifth grade and was never seen again - but Celia, now in her early 30s, suddenly realizes that all along she'd been repeating a lie and that what really happened was that Djuna fell in a well and Celia turned around and walked away, creating the story about the stranger as she went. Remembering this, Celia feels compelled to reconnect with her childhood friends - and to confront the fact that she and Djuna had been truly mean and awful to the people around them.
I'd say this is worth a read if you loved Bee Season, but if you haven't read that, don't start here.
The False Friend deals with an adult remembering a long-repressed memory that changes the way she views herself and her childhood. Celia Durst's best friend Djuna got into a stranger's car one day in fifth grade and was never seen again - but Celia, now in her early 30s, suddenly realizes that all along she'd been repeating a lie and that what really happened was that Djuna fell in a well and Celia turned around and walked away, creating the story about the stranger as she went. Remembering this, Celia feels compelled to reconnect with her childhood friends - and to confront the fact that she and Djuna had been truly mean and awful to the people around them.
I'd say this is worth a read if you loved Bee Season, but if you haven't read that, don't start here.