It's been said that friends are the family one chooses. Lydia Millet's Fair Ones perfectly encapsulates that sentiment. In this emotionally astute "double novel," Millet (Mermaids in Paradise; A Children's Bible) follows the interconnected lives of three female friends after the sudden death of one of them shatters their equilateral triangle and throws the lives of the survivors into turmoil.
Jen, Mara, and Claire are in their 40s when one spring morning, while awaiting the bus that will take her to the high school where she works as a counselor, Claire is felled by a bullet from a gun in the hands of a 13-year-old boy. Jen and Mara are left to carry on in the face of this unimaginable loss.
Told in the understated voice of Mara, a tutor hired mostly by affluent, hyperanxious parents eager to ease their children's path to college, the first section spans a year in the life of these characters that begins immediately after Claire's death. As implausible as it may seem, Jen, an editor at a multimedia content platform, can't shake the feeling that Claire's former boyfriend Jase, a narcissistic hedge fund manager, somehow is connected to the tragedy, a belief that provides most of that section's narrative tension.
In Fair Ones's second half, two years later, Jen, who "wielded bluntness like a cudgel," takes over the story. Hers is a more wry, sometimes cynical voice that will bring frequent smiles, the move toward humor perhaps a natural reflection of grief easing a bit since Claire's death. By now, Mara's relationship with the father of one of her students has blossomed. Jen has taken a job as creative coordinator for an organization that funds wilderness treks in the interior West for troubled teens and their parents. Internally, she's wrestling with what she calls the "dirty secret" arising from her erratic behavior in the aftermath of Claire's death. Both also experience how growing older can mean supporting their parents, Mara dealing with a mother who has early dementia, and Jen helping her mother cope with a damaged marriage that hangs by a thread.
The two sections of Fair Ones unfold almost entirely in well-crafted dialogue, which makes this a fast-paced read. Millet is especially adept at unearthing the emotions surrounding Mara's and Jen's decisions to remain "childfree," and the pressure imposed on them by society as a result of that choice. She expertly reveals the inside jokes and knowing asides that blossom in longtime friendships. This is a story that's honest, warm, and utterly realistic for anyone who's enjoyed the bonds of a close, confiding friendship. --Harvey Freedenberg, freelance reviewer
Shelf Talker: Lydia Millet expertly depicts the interconnected lives of two women in their 40s who must come to terms with the sudden, violent death of their close friend.