For quiet, cautious and restless college freshman Vivian Feld real life begins the day she moves in with the enigmatic Lee Parrish—daughter of died-too-young troubadour Jesse Parrish and model-turned-fashion designer Linda West—and her audiophile roommate Andy Elliott.
When a one-night stand fractures Lee and Andy's intimate rapport, Lee turns to Viv, inviting her into her glamorous fly-by-night world: an intoxicating mix of Hollywood directors, ambitious artists, and first-class everything. It is the beginning of a friendship that will inexorably shape both women as they embark on the rocky road to adulthood.
More than a decade later, Viv is married to Andy and hasn't heard from Lee in three years. Suddenly, Lee reappears, begging for a favor: she wants Viv to help her find the lost album Jesse was recording before his death. Holding on to a life-altering secret and ambivalent about her path, Viv allows herself to be pulled into Lee's world once again. But the chance to rekindle the magic and mystery of their youth might come with a painful lesson: While the sun dazzles us with its warmth and brilliance, it may also blind us from seeing what we really need.
What begins as a familiar story of two girls falling under each other's spell evolves into an evocative, and at times irrepressibly funny, study of female friendship in all its glorious intensity and heartbreaking complexity.
A story examining the dynamics of friendship. I found myself taking inventory of my friendships to see if I am easily influenced, passive, questioning if power and/or control exists, luckily my relationships are well balance.
I found it interesting after a 'falling out' which led to a considerable amount of time apart, these two pick up the pieces, albeit with suspicion and questions not to mention guilt, as if a monumental interruption never occurred – betrayal isn't easy to digest. They do wrestle with their reconnection as the story unfolds. Lee clearly the leader, Viv the follower. The duo rekindles their fragile friendship for their own reasons – known and unknown.
I enjoyed the legendary Jesse Parrish and the rock references along with Lee's quest to learn more of her deceased father Jesse.
I do wish the plot focused less on Lee and Viv's past friendship and more on their interaction now. The alternating of 'then' and 'now' became distracting. Difficult to bond with protagonists, simply too much telling and not nearly enough showing.
Fans enjoying a well written exploration of friendship and relationships in general will want to make room on their TBR.
Deborah Shapiro was born and raised outside of Boston, Massachusetts. A graduate of Brown University, she spent several years in New York working at magazines, including New York and ELLE, and her work has been published in Open City, Washington Square Review, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among other places. She lives with her husband and son in Chicago. The Sun in Your Eyes is her first novel.
Enter to win a copy of The Sun in Your Eyes by Deborah Shapiro. Open to US only. Ends 6/15/16.
This entry was posted in 2016, Fiction, May, Review and tagged Contemporary Women, Deborah Shapiro, Domestic Life, Family Issues, Womens Fiction on June 7, 2016 by atatteredcopy.