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.

Genres: Fiction

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!

[Karen Axnick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is not simply great storytelling, it also explores relevant social issues in a provocative, honest manner that informs as well as entertains. The author skillfully navigates the topic of racism with compassion and insight, particularly the safety of young black men in an emotionally charged milieu.

Babs and her husband, Galen, have achieved success in their professional careers through hard work and perseverance. They live comfortably as the only black family in a white, middle-class neighborhood. Babs’ best friend for over a decade is Nora, a white woman of inherited wealth, who adopted a Black infant and has been conscientious about providing him a cultural context.

Despite the close bond between the two women, their friendship is tested when Nora’s now teenage son is traumatized by an overzealous police encounter. The differences between the two families fracture along the lines of real and perceived racial differences in addressing the incident.

I was deeply touched by the descriptions of the characters’ experiences; it provides a deep dive into what it means to be black in our modern culture. The novel has a raw honesty which underscores how challenging it is to live within a system that overtly and covertly discriminates based on race. Beyond this issue, the book touches on parenting style, motherhood, infidelity, friendship, and community.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and look forward to future offerings by this author.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This review will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

[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

[Corina Sandu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book felt more like social commentary than literary fiction—and I don't mean that as a criticism.
Its biggest strength is the conversation it creates around race, privilege, identity, and belonging. At times, it reads almost like a guide meant to help readers better understand experiences different from their own, and there is real value in that.

The standout character for me was Nathan. A Black boy raised by white parents, his struggle to understand who he is and where he belongs was often painful to watch. I wanted to shake his mother because of how oblivious she could be, and I was furious with his father more than once. When Nathan finally finds a place where he feels understood and accepted, my heart ached for him. He was easily the most memorable character in the book.

Where the novel lost me was in some of the characterization. Many of the adults felt more like representatives of ideas than fully developed people, and several emotional journeys resolved a little too neatly for my taste. I kept wanting more messiness, more setbacks, and more complexity.

That said, this is very much a personal preference. Readers who enjoy fiction that puts social themes front and center may connect with this book far more than I did.
Overall, I found it thoughtful, worthwhile, and full of important conversations, even if I admired its message more than I connected with its storytelling.

Thank you to Viking and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I appreciated the opportunity to read and review this book before publication.

[Paola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. I really enjoyed this book. It provides nuanced commentary on different transracial topics including adoption and friendship. It also addresses difficulties in marriage through a racial lens.

As a narrator, I really enjoyed Babs as a narrator and the conversations she has with the rest of the characters. Her voice feels really fresh while navigating through difficult moments.

I also really enjoyed the ensemble of characters, but they felt ever so slightly underdeveloped while the ending feels a tad rushed. However, I raced through the book and I look forward to seeing more people read it.

[Megan Strang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Friends and Family will hook you like a beach read but hit you over the head with its commentary on race and privilege. Babs is a Black woman living primarily in a white world. She successfully bridges this dichotomy (so she thinks) until there's a police altercation with her best friend's Black son. Things go exactly as you'd expect (i.e., white people are the worst) as Babs reflects on her own identity, marriage, and community. Ultimately we all know this story, but the Black joy and confidence in both Babs' generation and her children gives the reader the real reason to turn the pages.

[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.

[Library Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was really difficult getting into this book and I kept putting it down. I know you have to build the relationships and establish the setting, and the plot, but the beginning of this was so slow. I just didn’t care about the affair. There is enough going on that you just don’t need another side story. I am glad that I continued on because the other elements were insightful and thought - provoking.

[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.