Simon McDonald

Hal Ebbott’s debut novel Among Friends is an excavation of friendship, parenthood and marriage as refracted by two wealthy white families from New York.

We’re introduced to Emerson and Amos—whose friendship spans three decades, since college—and their families. Claire is married to Amos, and they have a teenage daughter named Anna. Retsy is the wife of Emerson; their teenage daughter is Sophie. Their bond is indelible and seemingly eternal—until something happens on the weekend they congregate together for Emerson’s birthday at his country home.

I enjoyed the first half of Among Friends, before this incident, as Ebbott explores the consciousnesses of his characters, exhuming hidden resentments and the dark thoughts that pulsate through their synapses, but are unspoken; as well as the genuine affection they each have for one another. It’s authentic; psychologically deft, to a point; maybe a touch overcooked.

Ebbott doesn’t foreshadow what’s to come, but classic story architecture informs us that something is going to happen that will undermine their friendship. I hoped it would be something subtler than the—!! SPOILER !!—sexual assault that occurs against one of the teenage daughters.

I was fascinated by the callous and restrained responses of various characters, and how they each dealt with what you would assume to be a catastrophic blow to their bond—but I also felt gross, because it seemed like the assault was merely used as a plot point to potentially unravel their relationships, and the trauma was never really given its due. For all its merits—and the book has plenty—I could never quite overcome my discomfort. But was that the point…?