Devil Doll: A friendship gone awry

by Bonnie Friedman

Two young Americans meet en route to studying in Spain and forge an unusually close friendship. Once back in the United States, one of the women, who is married, invites the younger to come live with her and her husband. Over time a ménage à trois develops. But that isn’t what causes the ultimate rift in the friendship. Something deeper and more insidious had been at work from the very beginning. In this exploration of what underlies certain powerful friendships, the author examines the unacknowledged factors that sometimes attract us to one another—but can also make the relationship go painfully awry.

Bonnie Friedman is the author of the best-selling Writing Past Envy, Fear, Distraction, and Other Dilemmas in the Writer’s Life and the memoir The Thief of The Story of an Extraordinary Psychotherapy. Her essays have appeared in The Best Buddhist Writing, The Best Writing on Writing, The Best American Movie Writing, and The Best Spiritual Writing. She has received a fellowship from the Institute for the Advancement of the Arts at the University of North Texas, a Pushcart Prize special mention, and a Notable Essay mention in The Best American Essays. Her new book, Surrendering A Life in Essays, is forthcoming in November 2014. Read more about her at Bonniefriedman.com.

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45 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 13, 2014

Reviews

[Liviania · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Devil Doll" reminded me of one reason why I don't usually read memoirs. I really felt for Catherine (name changed?) who has quite a bit of her personal life exposed in this memoir, in addition to author Bonnie Friedman's generally low opinion of her. It can't be nice to have yourself immortalized negatively in a true story.

Bonnie and Catherine were fast friends when they studied abroad, but years later Bonnie dropped her without a word. "Devil Doll" explores why. Their relationship had strange ups and downs, including Bonnie sleeping with Catherine's husband, with her permission. Neither woman comes off very well. Catherine has a bit of a superiority complex, while Bonnie is judgmental and capricious. It's well written, but not that enjoyable.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short read about the relationship of two best mate who eventually get farther apart thought out the years. As I have seid the book is a short read only took me 30 mins from start took finish. It was a good story but I felt it was a bit rushed . I think that if the book was made into a full length book going into the relationship more it would be a fantastic book.