The False Friend

Middle schoolers Celia and Djuna are best friends--until Djuna is abducted in the woods as Celia watches from her hiding place. Twenty years later Celia returns to her upstate New York home on a mission to absolve her guilt and regrets over that tragedy. Goldberg's story also addresses girl bullying and the sometimes-tragic consequences of homecoming. Her youthfully lilting narration recreates events perfectly, as seen through the eyes of 11-year old Celia and her friends. She also delivers the subtly mature tones of family members and Celia's grown-up peers. As Goldberg portrays Celia's desperate quest with a compelling depth of feeling, her nuanced voice reminds listeners that its traumatic origins lie in a horrific tragedy of youth. Goldberg's seasoned writing and delivery often tempt one to "relisten" to moments of her exquisite crafting of thought and experience. A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

August 2, 2010
Goldberg's unremarkable latest, a neatly constructed if hollow story of memory and deception, begins in the woods surrounding a small upstate New York town, as 11-year-old Celia watches her best friend, Djuna, get into a stranger's car, never to be seen again. At least that's the story Celia gives to the police. Twenty-one years later, Celia returns to her hometown to tell her family and old friends what really happened that fateful day, but her new version of the disappearance is met with disbelief by family and old friends. Meanwhile, Celia's image of her childhood identity is shattered as she listens to descriptions of herself as a child: she was sweet to some, cruel and bullying to others. Goldberg successfully evokes the shades of gray that constitute truth and memory, but her tendency toward self-conscious writerliness and grand pronouncements ("The unadult mind is immune to logic or foresight, unschooled by consequence, and endowed with a biblical sense of justice") prevents the narrative from breaking through its muted tones. Goldberg misplays the setup, trading psychological suspense for a routine story of self-discovery.