Among Friends

If he learned anything–from life, from work–it was that you never knew when the light might change, when someone might shift, and you’d discover the angle that opened everything up. from Among Friends by Hal Ebbott

Ruthless in its dissection of the characters, whose inner lives are revealed with psychological depth, it was hard to put this novel down.

Amos and Emerson met at college, becoming fast friends. Emerson was priviledged, entitled, handsome, but could be cold. Amos was insecure, poor, accepting, a ballast to Emerson.

Emerson introduced Amos to a woman he had grown up with. Claire and Amos married. She became a doctor. Amos a counselor. Emerson a lawyer. They each had a daughter. The families vacationed together, and Amos and show more Emerson were in constant communication. Friendship, community, success, marriage, stability. They had it all.

There was an awareness of Amos gaining entrance to a world he could never have entered on his own. Money was “a country to which you could not immigrate,” Claire understood. And her money had made possible the life Amos enjoyed. Amos had “assumed the right role, like a bellhop who understands the discreet manner with which to accept his tip.”

There was an edge to the relationships. Emerson had affairs which his wife tolerated. They could be nasty to each other. Amos knew that Emerson was imperious. Claire was objective and could be detached. Amos insecure, tolerant. They were imperfect people but loved each other perfectly.

Until Emerson’s fifty-first birthday, when things were going wrong and he was irritated and angry, and petulantly directed his anger in a rash and shocking act that brings each character to consider the most important questions of their lives.

Are we the sum of our actions, or should we be judged by the best or worst we have done? What sacrifice are we willing to make for friendship, for stability, for community, to preserve family? Amos must decide how to act, each choice with its monumental implications.

The ending was chilling.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book. show less

I listened to this in audiobook format.

This haunting novel follows two families-- extremely close friends with long histories together. As backstories are interleaved, we see the seeds of subtle rifts and wedges that just begin to manifest decades later. Then there is a major transgression. How or if they will move forward is unclear and although the friends do not agree on much but they all want desperately to hold onto their friendships and their lifestyles. It's found these people to be unbelievably toxic but this book is extremely well written, with astute psychological insights and careful character development. I think it will stick with me for a long time.

This is an astonishing portrayal of friendship and family ties which become undone due to the unacceptable actions of an adult man towards a sixteen year old girl. Why? Because he can, which is the basis of the #METOO movement, now sadly being compromised by the "masculinity crisis" of which we are firehosed with on a daily basis, due to this administration and its woman-hating sycophants. Adam, married to Claire and best friends with Emerson, shares the type of strong friendship that men reputedly find difficult to develop. There's a great deal of backstory on the miserable childhoods of both men, but they seem to have conquered and moved on to comfortable upper middle class lives - until Emerson makes a very harmful spontaneous show more decision. The responses of all the adult family members are startling and the ending provides a lesson in the horror of self-protection and entitlement. The writing can seem a bit heavy on the internal thoughts, but this is not a story which needs much dialogue. show less

I've never read a book that gets so thoroughly inside of each character's head: each member of two heterosexual couples and each of two teen-age girls. The two couples are long-time friends because the two men were college roommates and best friends. All is well when they spend a weekend together until one of the guys, almost in a daze, commits a horrifying transgression. That chapter left me gasping; the rest of the book explores the "interiority" of each character.
Only the ending was unsatisfactory, but perhaps it's the only way it could have ended.

This is not an easy novel to review without giving away a spoiler. Suffice it to say, it is a story of male friendship in which an event takes place that threatens not only a friendship, but separate marriages as well. Among Friends, published in 2025, the debut novel from Hal Ebbott, opens with two couples and their children gathering for a weekend birthday celebration. Emerson is turning 52, and who better to spend it with than Amos, his college roommate and dearest friend. Each man is married – Emerson to Retsy, Amos to Claire – and each has a teenage daughter. Ebbott describes the weekend’s events, and what follows, from the different perspectives of these four characters.

The families are close and share a life of economic show more privilege, but like many long time friends, minor grievances have built up between them, and these simmer beneath the surface during the visit. But it is an “unspeakable act” later in their weekend, and one not discovered until later, that threatens to break apart the men’s friendship. It also upsets Amos and Claire’s marriage, and their relationship with their daughter. What follows in the story’s second half are the differing reactions to the event among the four, and how to best deal with it. I was especially surprised by the stances taken by the two wives. In the resolving chapter, it appears there is a resolution, but another surprise awaits the reader.

Among Friends is a novel that delves into the complexities of friendship and how that can also affect marriages and family relationships. Using the voice of dispassionate narrative, Ebbott presents probing psychological insights into these four characters, with a focus on Amos and Emerson’s fifty year friendship. A grim read, true, but an absorbing one nonetheless. show less

Amos and Emerson have been friends for 50 years. While on vacation at Emerson's home, something happens to Amos's teen daughter. This causes a rift between each couple and more so, the best friends. It is an examination of the years of friendship and trust. Who and what do you value most? What relationships are most meaningful and what will you do to preserve them?
Interesting.

The first part of the book was reasonable. Once Emerson crossed a line, the plot seemed unrealistic. I was very angry at the situation and how people behaved. The ending seemed implausible yet also the right thing.