A writer who lives in isolation takes in her deceased
mentor's dog, and the two of them come to grips with death and loss--and each
other.
Sigrid Nunez (Sempre Susan)
has not graced the literary world with a novel in almost a decade--but the wait
has surely been worth it. In The Friend, she takes readers
on a reflective journey through a labyrinth of grief, loss and loneliness. This
meditative, beautifully written novel reads as intimately as a memoir. It is
narrated by a sensitive intellectual, an unnamed woman--a writer and teacher--who
lives an isolated life in a tiny, barely 500-square-foot, rent-controlled New
York City apartment.
The suicide of her mentor--a writer and teacher, one of the narrator's closest
and oldest friends--forces her to grapple with the role he played in her life,
the meaning of his life and death, as well as her own existence in the world.
When she is ultimately asked to take in the deceased's dog--a 180-pound
Harlequin Great Dane named Apollo--she is reluctant. The narrator lives alone
and works mostly at home. Although she prefers cats, the affection and devotion
her mentor had for Apollo sways her decision. Despite her building not allowing
pets, she agrees to take the dog temporarily. His entrance adds a new dimension
to the landscape of loss, as he mourns his master in his own way. But, as the
narrator says, "You cannot explain death to a dog."
The pain of the narrator's bereavement is dealt with through remembering and
writing. But the bond she forms with the dog--how they adapt to each other and
a world darkened by an aching void--forges this thought-provoking,
philosophical story. Ultimately, The Friend ponders
the meanings of loyalty, love, friendship and a buoyant creative spirit. --
The Friend: A Novel by Sigrid Nunez
Riverhead Books/Penguin, $25.00 Hardcover, 9780735219441, 224 pages
Publication Date: February 6, 2018
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NOTE:
This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To
read this review on Shelf
Awareness: Reader's Edition (February
2, 2018), link HERE