How Could She

April 22, 2019
Mechling turns a sharp eye on the relationships between women in her first adult novel (after YA novel Dream Life). Geraldine Despont, Sunny MacLeod, and Rachel Ziff—all 37—are old friends. They all met while working as junior staff at a Toronto weekly newspaper in their 20s, and their paths have wildly diverged since. Sunny is the most obviously successful of the trio, making a career as a watercolor artist and ensconced in a picture-perfect marriage to an architect husband. Rachel, a native New Yorker, is struggling as a young adult novelist but has a beautiful daughter and an adoring husband. Geraldine, once engaged to the owner of the paper where they all met, is feeling stalled personally and professionally. Her decision to move to New York and get into podcasting has surprising consequences for her, Sunny, and Rachel’s relationships, opening old wounds and dredging up past betrayals. Mechling is particularly insightful when it comes to the envy and affection that marks friendship, and clearly delights in writing Geraldine as the New York ingénue. Though the characters’ shallowness and relatively minor problems may turn off some readers, this is nevertheless a breezy, entertaining romp.

Narrator Brittany Pressley is an opportune choice to recount the complicated friendship of three women who are all going through different challenges. Pressley deftly expresses each character's perspective and evokes the listener's empathy. After her fianc� ends their engagement, Geraldine moves from Toronto to New York City to see if being in the same environment as longtime friends Sunny and Rachel will bring her the career successes they have achieved. Using tonal variations and a smooth pace, Pressley emphasizes the believability and humor of the characters and makes clear the motivations for their actions. This is an honest portrayal of female friendship and loyalty and how these ties can be broken. D.Z. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine