Friends and Strangers

March 9, 2020
Sullivan’s intimate, incisive latest (after Saints for all Occasions) explores the evolving friendship between a new mother and her babysitter. After journalist Elisabeth Ronson moves with her husband, Andrew, and infant son, Gil, from Brooklyn to Upstate New York, Elisabeth struggles with the demands of motherhood and faces loneliness and disconnection. Then she hires Sam O’Connell, an art student at the nearby women’s college, to babysit. Elisabeth likes the upbeat Sam, though she has misgivings about Sam’s 30-something boyfriend, Clive, who proves to be untrustworthy,. Elisabeth and Sam correspond over Christmas break while Sam visits Clive in London and Elisabeth spends the holiday entertaining her parents and in-laws at home. Elisabeth and Sam argue about Clive, and Elisabeth’s father-in-law, George, provides another source of tension: Elisabeth finds his leftist rants tiresome, while Sam, via email, takes encouragement from George to campaign for improved working conditions on her campus, and struggles to understand if Elisabeth sees her as a friend or employee. Observations on domestic and social interactions add weight to Sullivan’s inquiry into Elisabeth and Sam’s interior lives, showing where the cracks seep into their friendship. Readers will be captivated by Sullivan’s authentic portrait of modern motherhood.

Narrator Kate Rudd conveys this story of friendship and privilege with impressive tonal changes. New mother and writer Elisabeth has moved to a small town in support of her husband's creative venture. Struggling to adjust, she hires a babysitter to help out. Sam, the babysitter, is enamored with Elisabeth's life, not seeing its lurking troubles. As the women share secrets and problems, their levels of prosperity are juxtaposed. Rudd navigates smoothly between them, ensuring that awe, frustration, clarity, and panic are fully depicted in her introspective pacing and intensifying tone. As the story reaches its conclusion, Rudd's delivery illuminates the substantial consequences that can come from even small decisions. S.K.G. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine