*I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
Title: Good Company
Author: Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
Publisher: CCCO, an imprint of HarperCollins
Publication Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 9780062876003
Synopsis:
Flora Mancini has been happily married for more than twenty years. But everything she thought she knew about herself, her marriage, and her relationship with her best friend, Margot, is upended when she stumbles upon an envelope containing her husband’s wedding ring—the one he claimed he lost one summer when their daughter, Ruby, was five. Flora and Julian struggled for years, scraping together just enough acting work to raise Ruby in Manhattan and keep Julian’s small theater company—Good Company—afloat. A move to Los Angeles brought their first real career successes, a chance to breathe easier, and a reunion with Margot, now a bona fide television star. But has their new life been built on lies? What happened that summer all those years ago? And what happens now?
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I’m ashamed to admit that this book found itself at the very of my TBR pile for far too long. We’re talking well over a year, if not verging on two. Simply for the fact that every time I’d go to read it, another cover or synopsis would catch my eye and I’d put this one down again and again. It’s a shame I waited so long, because this book was absolutely fantastic to read. Written by the author to The Nest, this new novel demonstrates Sweeney’s ability to get it right when it comes to dramatic family angst. Though not much happens throughout this story, the personal and emotional drama builds chapter by chapter.
Delving into the lives of two friends, Flora and Margot, and their respective partners, Good Company, is a story of endings, of self-discovery, of introspection, and of hope for a stronger and brighter tomorrow. The synopsis above will give you a great sense of the base plots of this story. It is told in many perspectives, though Sweeney has a way with keeping the story succinct and flowing. She smoothly transitions from one voice to the next, piecing together the puzzle of the mystery surrounding Flora’s husband, Julian’s, wedding ring. The characters, though not always honest with each other, are speaking honestly to the reader, as though we are their king confidante. As they reveal their truths, so too is the mystery revealed.
The greatest disruption in this book was the fact that secondary character, Margot, is a nearly exact replica of Ellen Pompey who plays Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy. It felt jarring to me that the fictional actress in this book would be so closely modelled on someone else, and the character she plays so similar to a fictional character that already exists. I do understand drawing inspiration from other works, however, this almost felt like plagiarism, it was so strikingly similar. It detracted from the otherwise beautiful universe that Sweeney created and it’s a shame that it’s such a prevalent part of the book .
However, still a fantastic story in the end. Would certainly recommend. Happy reading!
Worn Pages and Ink 