Rich and Pretty: A Novel - Softcover

Alam, Rumaan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062429949 ISBN 13: 9780062429940

Publisher: Ecco, 2017

Synopsis

“A sparkling debut.” (People)

“Smart, sharp, and beautifully made, Rumaan Alam’s portrait of two childhood best friends transitioning into their adult lives is vividly rendered, set against a tantalizing background of moneyed New York City that is impossible to resist.” (Emma Straub, author of The Vacationers)

From the bestselling author of Leave the World Behind, an irresistible debut about the changing relationship between two best friends navigating early adulthood against a backdrop of privileged New York City

As close as sisters for twenty years, Sarah and Lauren have been together through high school and college, first jobs and first loves, the uncertainties of their twenties and the realities of their thirties.

Sarah, the only child of a prominent intellectual and a socialite, works at a charity and is methodically planning her wedding. Lauren—beautiful, independent, and unpredictable—is single and working in publishing, deflecting her parents’ worries and questions about her life and future by trying not to think about it herself. Each woman envies—and is horrified by—particular aspects of the other’s life, topics of conversation they avoid with masterful linguistic pirouettes.

Once, Sarah and Lauren were inseparable; for a long a time now, they’ve been apart. Can two women who rarely see one other, selectively share secrets, and lead different lives still call themselves best friends? Is it their abiding connection—or just force of habit—that keeps them together?

With impeccable style, biting humor, and a keen sense of detail, Rumaan Alam deftly explores how the attachments we form in childhood shift as we adapt to our adult lives—and how the bonds of friendship endure, even when our paths diverge.

About this title

About the Author

Rumaan Alamis the author of the novelsRich and Pretty,That Kind of Mother, and the instantNew York TimesbestsellerLeave the World Behind. His writing has appeared inThe New York Times,New York Magazine,The New Yorker,The New York Review of Books, Bookforum,andthe New Republic, where he is a contributing editor. He studied writing at Oberlin College and lives in New York with his family.

From the Back Cover

As close as sisters for twenty years, Sarah and Lauren have been together through high school and college, first jobs and first loves, the uncertainties of their twenties and the realities of their thirties. Sarah, the only child of a prominent intellectual and a socialite, works at a charity and is methodically planning her wedding. Lauren--beautiful, independent, and unpredictable--is single and working in publishing, deflecting her parents' worries and questions about her life and future by trying not to think about it herself. Each woman envies--and is horrified by--particular aspects of the other's life, topics of conversation they avoid with masterful linguistic pirouettes.

Once, Sarah and Lauren were inseparable; for a long time now, they've been apart. Can two women who rarely see each other, selectively share secrets, and lead different lives still call themselves best friends? Is it their abiding connection--or just force of habit--that keeps them together?

Edition details

• Publisher: Ecco
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0062429949
• ISBN 13: 9780062429940
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304