Between Friends

Whoever wrote the blurb on the back was right.. I did recognize myself and my best friend in this book. She was the one that married right after high school and started her family soon after. I was the one who went off to college. My friend and I aren't as close as Lesley and Jillian, but those familiar feelings were still there. I really liked the addition of newspaper clippings and bumper stickers and such to the letters. Macomber did an excellent job conveying the feeling of each year as our lives are affected by current events. It really made me think of how many important events my parent's generation has lived through, and how many I have yet to.

I wouldn't say that this is the best book ever, and is going to win tons of awards. But it is so unique in the way it's written, and tells a great story. The book follows two girls, Lesley and Jillian, who are friends from childhood all the way through adulthood. But it's all through letters, diary entries, newspaper announcements, draft notices, etc. It was like reading through a scrapbook of their lives, and I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish!

Between friends was written in the style of letters and diaries. At first, I thought the book wasn't going to be to my liking because of the letter/diary style of writing. After delving into the pages for a short while, I began to really like this concept of writing and the content proved to be very relevant in my life. I have a BFF in Texas that I went to high school with and Between Friends correlated to our friendshp in a large way. Excellent Debbie Macomber, you never cease to bring me into your stories. I thoroughly love a good cozy story!

This novel follows the lives of Leslie and Jillian, beginning before they were even born through their long lives. Told in an epistolary style, the reader follows the girls as they grow, through the choices they made, both good and bad, while enjoying the good things they had and surviving life’s tragedies. Though from different economic backgrounds, the girls shared a bond of friendship that never wavered. Author Debbie Macomber included both the good things that happen to people as well as the terrible things that can occur, and since this novel covers several decades in a short amount of pages, be prepared for a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. Very well written with endearing characters, this novel explores some ways to deal show more with life-lessons as well how to enjoy the good things in life. show less

traces the lives and friendship of Jillian Lawton and Lesley Adamski through their letters, diaries, and other correspondence. Jillian, the only child of wealthy parents, and Lesley, one of many children born into a poor family, meet when they are in grade school and are immediately taken with one another. Both girls are extremely smart, but Jillian's family wealth opens doors while Lesley must scrimp and save for everything. Jillian graduates from high school as valedictorian while a pregnant Lesley prepares for marriage. Jillian goes on to prestigious colleges and eventually becomes a lawyer and later a judge, while Lesley's family grows to four children and she gives up on her hope of becoming a nurse. Both women experience loss, show more from men to dreams, but through it all they remain the truest of friends for 50 amazing years.[return][return]It's my second Debbie Macomber, and I enjoyed it too. Nice to see that she put in a little social history as well, with Nixon's resignation, and Clinton's impeachment only 2 of many references to the "real world". it's good that the format of their interactions change over the years, from letters to emails show less

Written as a series of letters, journal entries, et al, the book traces the friendship of two babies born in 1948 and raised in Washington state, attending the same Catholic Academy. It was very similar to reading a history of my own life as it mentions all that those of us born after WWII have experienced. The friendship between Jillian and Lesley spans their lives despite the fact they had very different lives and even had most of the USA between them most of their adult life. Very real issues were faced by each woman, and they were always there for each other in any way they could be. Bit of a tearjerker for me at least, but an enjoyable read.

FROM AMAZON: The story of a remarkable friendship - told in a remarkable way. A story in show more which every woman will recognize herself...and her best friend.

Jillian Lawton and Lesley Adamski. Two girls from very different backgrounds become best friends in the turbulent '60s, but their circumstances and choices - and their mistakes - take them in opposite directions. Lesley stays in their hometown. She marries young, living a life defined by the demands of small children, never enough money, and an unfaithful husband. Jill lives those years on a college campus shaken by the Vietnam War, and then as an idealistic young lawyer in New York City.

But they always remain friends.

Through the years and across the miles, Jill and Lesley confide everything to each other - every grief and joy. Because the quality of a friendship is the quality of a life.

Bonus Novella: Home to Honeymoon Harbor by JoAnn Ross

The rivalry between the Mannion and Harper families has divided them for over a century. Which is why, when John Mannion and Sara Harper fall in love, they become the small seaport town's very own Romeo and Juliet. But in Honeymoon Harbor, nothing - not even an infamous family feud - is a match for love. show less

If this book were written years from now, it'd be made up of emails, text messages, IMs, and phone conversation transcripts instead of letters and newspaper clippings. It shows how letters have definitely disappeared from our daily life, sad but inevitable perhaps. How will our story be told without old-fashioned written correspondence? Emails just don't have the same grace.

I like the premise of the book, two friends who live cross country, separated by geography but more importantly, class and personal choices, sharing their life stories through honest letters and diary entries.

Lesley got married to her first boyfriend after getting pregnant unexpectedly during high school and had four kids in 10 years with a man poorly equipped with show more the ability to take care of a family.

Her best friend, Jillian, leads a much different life in New York as a lawyer, her days are filled with legal briefs, not diapers. Yet she is unfilfilled as well, after she has closed herself off to new relationships after her first love died in the Vietnam War.

I didn't identify strongly with either character, but could see how the writer was able to make you emphasize with them by showing how their early decisions impacted their whole lives. This is something we all have to grapple with as we live our own lives -- making a choice and dealing with the consequences. show less