Comrades: A Lifetime of Friendships

by Rosita Boland

Exploring the many and varied friendships that have shaped her life, Comrades is the stunning new essay collection from the critically acclaimed author of Elsewhere . For fans of Emilie Pine and Elizabeth Day.

'My dictionary's first two definitions of 'comrade'

A close companion.
An intimate associate or friend.

The third one
A fellow soldier.

My friends have been all those things to me.'

In this stunning essay collection, award-winning journalist Rosita Boland explores the many friendships that have shaped her life. Surprising and beautiful, she writes about the imaginary friends of early childhood, books that have provided companionship and joy, kindred spirits met while traveling, the friend she hoped might become something more, and also the friendships that become lost over time.

Life-affirming, affecting and wise, Comrades is a powerful exploration of what it is to live, to connect, and to be human in this world.

Genres: Ireland, Nonfiction, Memoir

272 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2022

Reviews

[Felicity · Rating 4 out of 5]

My local branch library is not well stocked, but I continue to frequent it because I don't want it to close through lack of use. Knowing that I have the option of ordering any title from a bigger branch does not displace the pleasure of browsing and the occasional discovery of an unexpected gem such as this one. Boland is better known as an empathetic journalist on a national newspaper, one who writes with disarming frankness about the delights and disappointments in public and private lives. Her capacity for long-lasting friendships and openness to new ones -- there is no limit to the number of friendships she can and does maintain -- is as remarkable as her generosity towards the few friendships that have not survived. How many of us would have pursued the friendship with the founder of the Puffin Club long after we had outgrown our membership? She does not merely go the second mile; she doesn't hesitate to cross the Atlantic in pursuit of a missing friend. I feel privileged to have Boland in my life, albeit only as a 'book friend'.

[Gloria Cuevas]

I didn't find it fascinating but reading it made me think a lot about my friendships and about how I want my life to look like. I annotated it for my friend niamh so we can have a conversation with us - with the book

[Nathalie Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a big 4 but it's not Elsewhere (an impossible ask, I know), but I felt like it needed a final chapter on the friends I have yet to make.

[Connie Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is by a senior writer who reflects on her life as a journalist through the lens of friendships she’s had and what they meant to/for her. i really liked it because it made me happy to see how important friendship is to someone’s life but also because her life is so interesting. her friend was also a journalist and got kidnapped and held hostage in iran for 18 days, she travels a lot and tells stories about friends she met while travelling and friends she met while living like a rich life as a renowned journalist and it’s really fun to be a fly on the wall. i also really like this book because she talks about how her first friends as a child were books and talks about what books acted as friends for her and why (the last chapter especially) and it made it hard not to share her love of books and reading and the way she really intimately talks about the books and what she liked about them makes me want to read almost all of them. i just really liked her perspective

[Leanne Brady · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this read, I was looking for something lighter than some of my regular dark fictions that I always seem to find myself reading. This book encapsulates friendship in all its forms spanning over a lifetime as the title suggests. At times I laughed and others I cried but overall I was really invested in each chapter. Especially at a time when seeing friends doesn’t come as easy as before the pandemic - this is a lovely reminder of the bonds that we have that we cannot see due to the enforced distance of the pandemic.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book .Rosita reveals how friendships have moulded her life from childhood imaginary friends . Her college friends and her work colleagues . The most influential being the Hanger friends during her stint in Harvard . A deeply personal book so interesting and beautifully written . The reader is made to feel that Rosita has taken one into her confidence and comes away from the book as if a new friend has been made .

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. Boland takes the same care with his prose as she does her friendships, meaning that this book is considered and heartfelt.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't hate this book, there were a lot of parts I found interesting. I definitely found the last chapter could have been more profound.

[Lauren Galligan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not to be mean but I really thought these were bad examples of friendship…actually I couldn’t finish it in the end because it stressed me out so much to read. Also too much backpacking content (I hate backpacking content)