Friends and Family: A Novel

by Natalie Baszile

From the author of Queen Sugar, a piercing examination of friendship and loyalty as two best friends find themselves at odds over their beliefs on race, identity and allyship, especially when it comes to their teenage children

Babs and Nora became friends thanks to their kids. Now, the desire to protect their children might tear them apart.

Babs and Nora have spent a decade’s worth of morning walks sharing family secrets, local drama, and advice—everything from tips on lingerie choices to Babs’s suggestions to Nora, a white woman, on how to raise Nathan, her adopted Black son.

But their worlds are turned upside down when the cops are called on their kids while they’re home alone, leading to a traumatic police encounter for Nathan. In the aftermath, Babs and Nora find themselves divided as never before, and Nathan looks for refuge with Babs and her family, where, unlike in his own home, race, identity, and culture are always up for discussion. Babs can see that Nathan is a young Black man without community trying to find himself. Torn between respecting Nora’s boundaries and embodying the values so important to her own family, Babs will make a choice that will shape their lives forever.

Set in a tight-knit enclave in the Bay Area, Good People is an eye-opening exploration of friendship and privilege, race and community, and what it means to truly be a good friend and ally.

384 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication October 6, 2026

About the author

Natalie has a M.A. in Afro-American Studies from UCLA, and is a graduate of Warren Wilson College’s MFA Program for Writers where she was a Holden Minority Scholar. An early version of Queen Sugar won the Hurston Wright College Writer’s Award, was a co-runner up in the Faulkner Pirate’s Alley Novel-in-Progress competition, and excerpts were published in Cairn and ZYZZYVA. She has had residencies at the Ragdale Foundation where she was awarded the Sylvia Clare Brown fellowship, Virginia Center for the Arts, and Hedgebrook. Her non-fiction work has appeared in The Rumpus.net, Mission at Tenth, and in The Best Women’s Travel Writing Volume 9. She is a former fiction editor at The Cortland Review, and is a member of the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto. Natalie grew up in Southern California and lives in San Francisco with her family.

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Friends and Family is a solid story about friendships, but not the easy, feel good kind. However, the book is truly about how race can play into the mix into day to day interactions.
For me, reading this felt like experiencing two stories in one.

The first is a complex portrait of a bond between two friends: Babs, who is Black, and Nora, who is white. Babs daughter Reese and Nora's adopted son Nathan have been best friends since they were just kids.It serves as a stark reminder that life altering situations will really show you what a friendship is made of and not always in a good way.

The second story is an exploration of race and privilege, centered on Nora’s complex experience as she navigates life with Nathan.

Throughout the book, there lies Babs and her husband Galen's complex marriage, perfect descriptions of San Francisco (not many writers can navigate the city streets correctly and Baszile does it well), and the contradictions between rich versus the comfortable middle class.

Through Nathan’s character, the book also dives into the terrifying and specific reality of how Black men are perceived and treated by the police. It highlights the anxiety that comes with raising a Black son in a world where a simple encounter can turn life threatening. This particular layer of the story shows how privilege isn't just about what you have, but about what you don't have to fear.

It’s clear that Baszile wasn't interested in shying away from uncomfortable conversations, and I truly appreciated that boldness.

I devoured this book in two days and can’t wait to see how readers react to this exploration of race, and what friendships truly mean when put to the ultimate test.

Thank you Viking and Pamela Dorman for the advanced copy!

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Nathalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a real book. I had to go back and check it was fiction and not a memoir because of how real the storytelling felt.
This book really addresses race, Transracial adoption, friendship, marriage. Basil’s shows how people can exist in the same world but have different perspectives and experiences and how that can affect friendships.

There is a lot of build up and explaining in this book to be able to understand and feel the full effect of this story.

I think this was a really good book that addressed a lot of important topics going on today.

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25. I loved the honesty of this book. I appreciated the way the author allows the reader into the inner thoughts of Babs as she navigates marriage, motherhood, sisterhood, and friendship. The layered discussions of race and racism are real and raw. The characters are fully formed and this would just as easily read as a memoir. This would make the perfect book club book!

[LaKayla Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes situations will really show you what a friendship is made of, and not always in a good way, and that’s exactly what happens in Friends and Family.

Friends and Family is a story about friendship, but not the easy, feel good kind. This story shows how quickly things can shift when real-life situations come into play, especially when it involves family, race, and “protecting” your children. The book explores how friends with different perspectives in these areas can either grow closer or drift apart.

I’ve also always wondered about transracial adoptions, especially when families of other races adopt black children. Will the child be fully accepted and loved by the entire family? Will they feel like something is missing when it comes to their cultural identity? This book really shed light on those questions in a way that felt honest and real.

As you can see, shying away from uncomfortable conversations was not something Baszile did here, and I really appreciated that.

The pacing leaned more on the reflective side, which worked for the story, but I will say the ending felt a little abrupt. I found myself wanting just a bit more closure. An epilogue would have been a really nice addition to help the ending feel more complete.

Overall, this was an engaging read that made me think about friendship and family in a deeper way. If you enjoy stories that touch on real-life issues, this is definitely one to check out.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, Viking Penguin, and Pamela Dorman Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: Oct 6, 2026

#NetGalley #FriendsandFamily

[Ellen Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book blew my mind. This is such an important read for the world we live in today. With themes of race, class, marital issues, and female friendships there are so many takeaways. Babs is such an amazing character and I felt like I got to know her in real life. I found myself reflecting on things I can do better as a white woman in this world. This is such a powerful and unforgettable book. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored Queen Sugar and the tv show based on it, so I was super excited to get early access to Natalie Baszile's newest novel. It did not disappoint. Babs and Nora have long been best friends since their kids met in kindergarten. Now their children are teenagers and an incident puts their friendship and their families to the test as they view the incident in vastly different ways. I loved this book, and I can't wait for everyone else to get a chance to read it.

[Melly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Friends and Family felt quietly personal in a way I didn’t expect.

I didn’t rush through it. It’s a slower, more reflective read, but I still found myself getting pulled into the characters’ lives. They’re messy, complicated, and sometimes frustrating, which made them feel very real. A lot of small moments and interactions reminded me of things I’ve seen or experienced myself.

It’s the kind of book that stays with you a bit after you finish it and makes you think.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC.