The Barnes & Noble Review
June 1998



Joanna Trollope is a No. 1 bestselling author in England. Here in the States, she has legions of faithful fans who have cherished each new book that has come across the Atlantic. In her latest, The Best of Friends, Trollope crafts a tale about two childhood friends who are now grown up with children, but whose marriages are on the brink of betrayal.

Gina and Laurence had been the best of friends ever since they were teens - but never in love. Gina married Fergus Bedford, an antique dealer who bought the sophisticated and elegant High Place for them to live in. Laurence married Hilary, a down-to-earth woman who helped him transform his shambling inheritance, The Bee House, into both a home and a small hotel.

When Fergus realizes that living with Gina and their daughter, Sophy, is no longer what he wants, it's to The Bee House that Gina flees, beginning a cycle of misery and heartache. It ricochets through both families - from Sophy, who longs for things to be as they were; to Gus, Laurence and Hilary's son, who adores Sophy; to Gina's 80-year-old mother, Vi, who has found true love for the first time in her life. In her loss, Gina turns to her dearest friend, Laurence, and finds something completely unexpected - the type of love that will send both marriages to the brink of betrayal.

The Best of Friends addresses what Joanna Trollope writes about best: "suspense of the heart" (USA Today). Trollope believes, "It is the mark of good fiction that the writer's eye is a kindly one...that there is a sense that we're allinthis together." That sympathetic eye is seen throughout this must-have book, which fans of Trollope are sure to enjoy while introducing this secret pleasure to unfamiliar readers.