Westport Public Library BOOK blog

A few weeks ago an old friend who now lives in California was in town for a few days and we got together for a girl’s night out with a group of our friends. Although we hadn’t seen each other in a few years, it seemed like it was just yesterday. It was hard to say goodbye at the end of the evening, having caught up on all the little things we miss talking about on a daily basis. Over the years we’ve shared a lot together –both the good times and the bad. Good friends have always played an important part in women’s lives. Women’s friendships have also figured prominently in many of our favorite books.

Songs Without Words by Ann Packer is the story of a lifelong friendship between two women. Beautifully written, Ms. Packer shows how life events can challenge and strain the bonds of friendship. In Truth and Beauty, Ann Patchett delves into the true story of her relationship with fellow author Lucy Grealy. They met in college and shared their writing experiences as well as Grealy’s struggle with drugs and addiction. Patchett’s devotion and love for her friend will resonate with many who have tried to help a friend through troubled times.

The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton follows the lives of five women who are going through many personal changes as the world around them is also undergoing change. Set in 1968 at the beginning of the women’s movement, they form a weekly writing group sharing their lives, hopes and dreams through their writing. In Commencement, by J. Courtney Sullivan, four college friends struggle to find their place in the world after graduating from a woman’s college where the ideals of feminism have been strongly embraced. Set in 2007, they have many opportunities available to them, but the choices they make are not always easy. The strength of their friendship is a source of comfort as they each follow their own path to adulthood.

The enduring nature of female friendships is the subject of The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow. This true story follows eleven childhood friends from Ames, Iowa and the bonds that still connect them forty years later. Over the years they have been a support system for each other and a source of strength in times of need.

Do you have a close friend that you may have lost touch with recently? Technology has made it pretty easy for us to keep in touch if we are willing to make the effort. Perhaps one of these books will inspire you to reconnect with some of those friends. You may find that there’s something very special about those relationships that you don’t want to lose.