Your Friend and Mine (Jessica Dettmann, Atlantic)

Margot is a middle-aged, married mother of one who runs a busy restaurant in Balmain with her husband. Life is full, but not necessarily fulfilling – she’s growing weary of her monotonous work and is questioning the health of her marriage. Then, out of the blue, she receives an email from her best friend Tess, who died 20 years ago. The email is part of a bequest that sends Margot to London, where a solicitor holds a series of letters Tess left behind. What follows in Jessica Dettmann’s Your Friend and Mine is a journey shaped by these letters. Margot opens them one by one, a structure that creates an unpredictable plot and keeps the reader engaged. Tess clearly intended her words to prompt Margot to reflect on – and possibly rethink – her life. By contrasting young Tess’s opinions with middle-aged Margot’s reactions, the novel highlights how the idea of a ‘good life’ can change significantly with age. Further exploration of this theme could have made the book even more compelling. Dettmann (This Has Been Absolutely Lovely, Without Further Ado) confidently covers vast emotional ground while maintaining a light, accessible style. Your Friend and Mine is for readers of Marian Keyes. It considers the meaning of friendship, what makes a good life, and what you’d do if given the chance to revisit the paths you didn’t take.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Sophie Pusz has previously worked in independent bookshops in Melbourne and Sydney and for several trade and academic publishers. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

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