Lina and June’s friendship shouldn’t make sense. June has her future planned to a T; Lina takes life day by day, party by party. June’s dreams are colour-coded and neatly filed, while Lina’s are even too big for New York City, where she and June are university students. But after a messy night out throws the two girls together, it seems like nothing can tear them apart. Until June’s health takes an unexpected turn for the worse. Until Lina jets off to Paris, leaving her best friend behind.
As Lina and June’s once-intertwined lives veer off on separate paths, they’re on their own to figure out how to fix their severed bond.
Soulmates are meant to be forever. But when yours is your best friend, is the heartbreak of losing them too big to patch?
If you’ve ever lost a friend, if you’ve ever missed a friend, or if you’ve ever been a friend – you were meant to find this book.
Female friendship is a fierce, steadfast form of love that I couldn’t have survived my life without so I’m always drawn to books about friendship like this one. I truly loved the way it developed from having a charming North American ‘Gilmore Girls’ style to a serious and complicated tale of enduring friendship. It echoed the journey of two women who meet at college, but take their friendship beyond that and into real life when jobs, opportunities and relationships pull our main characters into different directions. I identified strongly with this because I’ve moved away and come back to my home county, had different romantic relationships and long term illness that stretches friendships. My friends were also negotiating milestones like falling in love, following their career dreams and having children – probably the most life changing experience of all. All of this eats into our time and means we have to make a conscious effort to keep our friendships going. It’s about accepting time apart, celebrating each other’s milestones but still being there when things fall apart. The last part has been very important for me and my friends because we’ve faced serious illness, infertility and bereavement on my end and motherhood, loss and growing careers on theirs. Those friendships that have survived the push and pull of constant change are worth their weight in gold. One of my longest friendships started with a fall up the stairs of a theatre in front of a whole audience and Lina meets June in an equally awkward setting. At a college party, June finds Lina drunk and vulnerable, so she gets her out of the party and decides to take her back to her own rooms where she can look after her overnight.
The girls are very different. June is the older one, in her second year at college and is definitely the more measured and sensible of the pair. Lina is walking chaos! She’s able to fully immerse herself in whatever the moment brings which makes her a joy to be with, but the downside is she forgets everything else thats happening in her life. She loses herself in the latest romance, career opportunity or trip abroad, but isn’t great at the steady work that goes into making relationships and opportunities succeed. June is the opposite, having a more steady temperament and willing to put a lot of work in to achieve what she wants. We see the difference in small gestures like Lina’s idea of filling June’s space with sunflowers, her favourites. She sees it as a celebration of their friendship and will show her friend how much she appreciates her. However, June doesn’t like surprises and feels like her space has been invaded. At first she seems a bit ungrateful but she does realise what Lina is trying to convey and lets her know that she does appreciate her friend’s efforts. This is the give and take of any longer term relationship and their differences can complement and encourage each other – Lina could pick up June’s organisational skills and work ethic while June could learn to be more present in the moment and to prioritise what she enjoys in life as much as work. We can see how well they work together as they prepare a Thanksgiving meal, each one bringing their skills to the table. However, there’s also a more destructive dynamic at play though. It’s clear from the beginning that June has a mothering instinct and it comes out in the way she rescues Lina. The problem is Lina needs a lot of rescuing and doesn’t seem to learn from one situation before jumping into another. What happens when the rescuer in this dynamic can no longer rescue, or becomes the one who needs help?
This could have been a light,easy novel filled with autumn days, cozy girl’s nights in NYC, croissants at Balthazar’s and the romance of Paris. It has all that on the surface, but underneath are some tough subjects some of which I have experience with. When June’s health took a turn for the worst I was reminded of those friends who kept me close, those who struggled with the news and those who disappeared. It can be hard to accept the new version of yourself, but even harder to explain it to others. When June feels like she’s always having to comfort others and ensure they don’t feel awkward I understood. All you need is support and practical help, but you wind up dealing with their emotions about your illness. She finds a support group and meets people experiencing illness too. I really appreciated how the author wrote about June wanting to feel like a regular young woman again. To not have to rely on those she loves but just enjoy them. To have more choices:
“They were in different worlds now – one expanding, one tightening – and though neither of them could name it, the space between those worlds was starting to grow.”
The author brings these characters to light with all their faults, plus she gives us some background by bringing in their parents. This gives us hints of how the girls have grown-up and perhaps some clues as to why they have the dynamic they do. All of this comes at the wrong time for Lina who has just planned her return to Paris with a job teaching English. What decision will she make? This novel is by turns cozy, hopeful and emotionally powerful. If you love stories of female friendship and what a gift it is, then this is for you or your bestie.
Out Thursday 10th December from Aria Books
Meet the Author
Genevieve Wheeler is an American writer and communications director. Her bylines have appeared in publications including Cosmopolitan, Vice, Vogue Business, Teen Vogue, Elite Daily, and PopSugar, and her work and words have been cited in The New York Times, Vox, the BBC World Service, Cheddar News, Jezebel, and beyond. She holds an M.A. in marketing communications from the University of Westminster in London and a B.S. in advertising from Boston University. She’s currently based in London. Adelaide is her debut novel.
Follow her on Instagram at @geewheeler.
