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Between Friends
A provocative new novel about birth, death, and the stuff in between, from the award-winning author of Catching Genius.
Thanks to modern reproductive technology-and the gift of her friend Cora's eggs-Ali Gutierrez is the mother of a fourteen-year-old daughter. Now, yearning for a second child, Ali asks Cora's permission to use another of the frozen embryos that have been stored away in anticipation of this decision. But Cora has a secret that could not only change Ali's plans for the future, but tear apart her life right now.
Thanks to modern reproductive technology-and the gift of her friend Cora's eggs-Ali Gutierrez is the mother of a fourteen-year-old daughter. Now, yearning for a second child, Ali asks Cora's permission to use another of the frozen embryos that have been stored away in anticipation of this decision. But Cora has a secret that could not only change Ali's plans for the future, but tear apart her life right now.
325 pages, Paperback
First published March 31, 2010
12 people are currently reading
1330 people want to read
About the author
Kristy Kiernan
3 books59 followersKristy Kiernan was born in Tennessee and raised on the beaches of southwest Florida.
She is the author of CATCHING GENIUS, published in 2007 and an Ingram Book Club selection.
MATTERS OF FAITH was published in 2008 and was chosen as an IndieNext Notable Title and won the Florida Book Award bronze medal.
BETWEEN FRIENDS was published in 2010 and was a featured selection for the Literary Guild, Doubleday, and Rhapsody book clubs, and was also chosen a Best Summer Beach Read by Women's World.
She is the author of CATCHING GENIUS, published in 2007 and an Ingram Book Club selection.
MATTERS OF FAITH was published in 2008 and was chosen as an IndieNext Notable Title and won the Florida Book Award bronze medal.
BETWEEN FRIENDS was published in 2010 and was a featured selection for the Literary Guild, Doubleday, and Rhapsody book clubs, and was also chosen a Best Summer Beach Read by Women's World.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 166 reviews
June 8, 2015
This was a strong 2.5 stars for me. Sort of lost interest towards the end and spent the last few chapterss skimming to finish. Never really connected with the characters so this was just an ok read for me.
May 24, 2010
I find the way Kristy Kiernan conveys relationships (between sisters, best friends, mother and daughter) to be incredibly rich and real. Her stories are always complex and I often admire how brave she is for going certain places in her fiction I never could. This book touched on many topics: motherhood, friendship, illness, and medical ethics. All done in a compelling manner. Also, I have to say I totally thought the book was going in a certain direction at the end and was thinking, ack! No! Don't go there! But she veered down another path altogether and I ultimately loved the turn it took. In the world of women's fiction, this author is clearly at the top.
January 12, 2020
Ali and Cora have been friends since they were little and would do anything for each other. Fast forward and Ali is married but her body can’t produce to become pregnant and she yearns for a baby. Cora is a globe trotter and doesn’t want to settle down or have children but is willing to donate her eggs to help Ali and Benny have a child. One takes and Letty is born. Fast forward again and Cora finds out she has a incurable disease and is frightened she has passed it on to Letty. This heart warming and wrenching story shows what true friendship and love means as each woman struggles with outcomes and faith to hold it all together. First by this author it was wonderful!
May 27, 2020
Meet the parents: Benny is “a bit of an anachronism,” a cop who wants everything to be in order, to make sense, and views the world through an idealistic lens. Ali is the mother who “had to drive to Venice to pick up our errant daughter and found out she might be carrying a ticking time bomb and was sleeping with a possible pot dealer who was in custody” and discovers her “best friend had a life-threatening disease.” Meet the best friend and alternate voice in the story Cori, “a combination of Indiana Jones and Amelia Earhart, flying into remote backcountries, dodging bats, hair flying in the wind...she realized what she had risked, and how her life was her own to pilot. She still felt the same way every time she flew, every time she took control and felt the air beneath her, allowing her to use it to leave the earth and gain the sky.”
As a single female globetrotter with a desperate desire to be a mother, I resonated with both characters. I especially appreciated Ali’s confession upon discovering Cora’s polycystic kidney disease (PKD): “I considered her charmed. There were times, I was ashamed to admit, that I’d resented her for it. There were times, despite my desperate love for my husband and my child and my home, and even for Florida itself, that I resented her for being able to travel all over the world...And not only had she traveled all over the world, she could do so on her own. She wasn’t just taken places, she could fly there by herself.” At my Bible study last night, one of the women shared that one person’s complaint could be another person’s prayer...So true!
I was convicted by the poignant conversation between mother and daughter towards the conclusion: “In the daily routine of raising her, I had too rarely had those conversations with her, but I’d always been grateful when we managed to have one. The lightweight reality of them embarrassed me now. Letty looked at me as if she had no idea who I was, had never heard words or ideas like this coming from my mouth, and I suppose she hadn’t… ‘How does anyone know?’... ‘I think you just have to decide what it is you believe and then stick with it until a more compelling argument against it comes along...He, the essence of him, his soul if you want to call it that, I think that’s already gone to a better place.’” This is one example of the benefit of raising your family in a faith tradition. Life, death, creation, souls, and the afterworld are interwoven into regular conversation in the home rather than the hospital, around the dinner table rather than the death bed. That way when we do arrive at the graveside, pain is present but it is accompanied by hope and the blessed assurance of knowing what the future holds on the other side of this life. A common theology provides a lexicon for lament and a framework to hold your family together when everything around you is falling apart. “Knowing how to handle yourself means keeping yourself out of questionable situations to begin with.”
“Some things have to stay just between friends. We keep each other’s secrets, always have.” As this quote from which the title is taken suggests, Between Friends is a novel about secrets. Secrets about Santa and sex (respectively!). The things we keep from our parents, lovers, and friends out of the desire to protect the other or to protect ourselves. Between Friends wrestles with the question of which truths we are compelled to tell and which are permitted to be omitted. It is a novel about unconditional friendship: “We were, always had been, always would be, in this--whatever this happened to be that day, that year--together.” Between Friends is a call and response, an answer “as we’d answered each other, in word and deed, throughout our lives, the way we answered family. ‘Always.’”
As a single female globetrotter with a desperate desire to be a mother, I resonated with both characters. I especially appreciated Ali’s confession upon discovering Cora’s polycystic kidney disease (PKD): “I considered her charmed. There were times, I was ashamed to admit, that I’d resented her for it. There were times, despite my desperate love for my husband and my child and my home, and even for Florida itself, that I resented her for being able to travel all over the world...And not only had she traveled all over the world, she could do so on her own. She wasn’t just taken places, she could fly there by herself.” At my Bible study last night, one of the women shared that one person’s complaint could be another person’s prayer...So true!
I was convicted by the poignant conversation between mother and daughter towards the conclusion: “In the daily routine of raising her, I had too rarely had those conversations with her, but I’d always been grateful when we managed to have one. The lightweight reality of them embarrassed me now. Letty looked at me as if she had no idea who I was, had never heard words or ideas like this coming from my mouth, and I suppose she hadn’t… ‘How does anyone know?’... ‘I think you just have to decide what it is you believe and then stick with it until a more compelling argument against it comes along...He, the essence of him, his soul if you want to call it that, I think that’s already gone to a better place.’” This is one example of the benefit of raising your family in a faith tradition. Life, death, creation, souls, and the afterworld are interwoven into regular conversation in the home rather than the hospital, around the dinner table rather than the death bed. That way when we do arrive at the graveside, pain is present but it is accompanied by hope and the blessed assurance of knowing what the future holds on the other side of this life. A common theology provides a lexicon for lament and a framework to hold your family together when everything around you is falling apart. “Knowing how to handle yourself means keeping yourself out of questionable situations to begin with.”
“Some things have to stay just between friends. We keep each other’s secrets, always have.” As this quote from which the title is taken suggests, Between Friends is a novel about secrets. Secrets about Santa and sex (respectively!). The things we keep from our parents, lovers, and friends out of the desire to protect the other or to protect ourselves. Between Friends wrestles with the question of which truths we are compelled to tell and which are permitted to be omitted. It is a novel about unconditional friendship: “We were, always had been, always would be, in this--whatever this happened to be that day, that year--together.” Between Friends is a call and response, an answer “as we’d answered each other, in word and deed, throughout our lives, the way we answered family. ‘Always.’”
May 4, 2010
Ali and Cora are not typical friends: they are best friends to the upteenth power. Ali and her childhood love and husband Benny wanted a baby even though Ali's eggs were not viable. So, in steps Cora to give Ali what she needs most to fulfill her mommy dreams. Along comes Letty, who, when the novel opens, is fourteen years old and ready to begin her life an a young woman. She fights the system (the system being her mom and dad) and acts out in order to establish who she believes she is (which doesn't always involve being the miracle baby her parents and Cora see her as). At the start of the novel we also have Ali wanting to have another baby using the extra embryos harvested when they tried to have Letty, Benny struggling with his inner demons that he, not being at the right place at the right time, was not able to be the perfect cop and save a young man's life, and Cora having a terrible secret to share with everyone, one that might just ruin everyone's happiness. You see, Cora has PKD kidney disease, a disease that has no cure and which might have been passed on to Letty through Cora's donated egg. Through this novel they all stuggle with their feelings and choices, with some finding resolution and some meeting with devastating outcomes. Through it all we have the bond of Ali and Cora, a bond that cannot be broken no matter how hard life and circumstances try to break it.
When I finished this novel I just thought..wow! In no way was this a happy, easy read. I found myself actually having to put the book aside a few times because it was just too painful to read. What this book is is real. It is real emotion, real decisions and real outcomes to the decisions we make. You can relate to what these characters are feeling and doing, even if you don't want to admit it to anyone else. It shows how there is light even in the darkest days and that you can get through anything as long as you have friends and family who love you. I will definitely pick up this author's other books after reading this one. Highly recommend!
When I finished this novel I just thought..wow! In no way was this a happy, easy read. I found myself actually having to put the book aside a few times because it was just too painful to read. What this book is is real. It is real emotion, real decisions and real outcomes to the decisions we make. You can relate to what these characters are feeling and doing, even if you don't want to admit it to anyone else. It shows how there is light even in the darkest days and that you can get through anything as long as you have friends and family who love you. I will definitely pick up this author's other books after reading this one. Highly recommend!
July 3, 2010
I loved this book, as much if not more than I loved the author's previous work, "Matters Of Faith."
Kristy Kiernan's gift is this: She takes the best elements of literary fiction and marries them to the taut, lean pacing of genre potboilers. "Between Friends" is a story that's story first, that whisks the reader along on a breathless ride and develops its characters and settings with spare but sharp insights along the way.
"Between Friends" juggles a disparate cast, social and medical issues, multiple points of view and dozens of dramatic incidents that build up and weave into one another, and she does so without missing a beat. Many bigger names in "women's fiction" (yeah, I hate that term too, but it fits, and there's not much point fighting it) can't resist the misguided impulse to put the action on pause while letting characters bleed for pages with blathery, often unnecessary backstory in blatantly show-offy fashion. Kiernan is the rare writer who steps nimbly around such swamps and keeps her eyes on bigger and better payoffs — all of which are fully and fairly realized at the story's end.
Along the way, I came to know (and occasionally be frustrated) by wife and mother Ali Gutierrez, her headstrong teen daughter Letty, cop husband Benny, best friend Cora and several others ... and ultimately, I came to love them in spite of the fact that each of them irritate me so much. They became family to me. Not many authors — including those who deal in more "serious" and "important" milieus, and those who write with more delicate poetry — have been able to make me feel that. I'll take family over fanciness any day.
Kristy Kiernan should be one of the biggest literary stars on the planet. Why she isn't should be the topic of an upcoming "Oprah" program.
Kristy Kiernan's gift is this: She takes the best elements of literary fiction and marries them to the taut, lean pacing of genre potboilers. "Between Friends" is a story that's story first, that whisks the reader along on a breathless ride and develops its characters and settings with spare but sharp insights along the way.
"Between Friends" juggles a disparate cast, social and medical issues, multiple points of view and dozens of dramatic incidents that build up and weave into one another, and she does so without missing a beat. Many bigger names in "women's fiction" (yeah, I hate that term too, but it fits, and there's not much point fighting it) can't resist the misguided impulse to put the action on pause while letting characters bleed for pages with blathery, often unnecessary backstory in blatantly show-offy fashion. Kiernan is the rare writer who steps nimbly around such swamps and keeps her eyes on bigger and better payoffs — all of which are fully and fairly realized at the story's end.
Along the way, I came to know (and occasionally be frustrated) by wife and mother Ali Gutierrez, her headstrong teen daughter Letty, cop husband Benny, best friend Cora and several others ... and ultimately, I came to love them in spite of the fact that each of them irritate me so much. They became family to me. Not many authors — including those who deal in more "serious" and "important" milieus, and those who write with more delicate poetry — have been able to make me feel that. I'll take family over fanciness any day.
Kristy Kiernan should be one of the biggest literary stars on the planet. Why she isn't should be the topic of an upcoming "Oprah" program.
October 13, 2010
I think a few months ago, I would have given this book 4 stars. I liked the story, it was easy to read, it was quick, a book about friendship and family. Just the kind of book I like to read. However, since I have started reading reviews of books more often than I used to, I have become more critical of them I think. Reading what others say about books makes me think of things that I otherwise would not have. And I think this book is the first example for me that I felt I could be more critical than just "I liked it, the characters were good" or "I didn't like it, the story was dumb." Or whatever. I feel like I'm able to back up my opinions.
So, like I said, easy to read, decent story, quick, happy, sad, all the components of a good story. However, pretty much everything about this book seemed a little too convenient for me. Infertile woman wants a baby. Her best friend doesn't. Miracle of miracles, they are a blood match and best friend can be an egg donor. Best friend has a job that keeps her away from "her" daughter. Teenage daughter has troubled boyfriend that gets her into trouble. Dad goes ballistic. Best friend has genetic disease and needs a transplant. Cop dad gets shot by troubled boyfriend's dad, dies, is an organ donor. Friend rejects organ. Daughter doesn't have genetic disorder, gives "mom" her kidney. Troubled boyfriend is adopted by sick friend. Mom uses stored embryos to have another 'miracle' baby after dad is dead. And they all live happily ever after. Lovely.
It just seemed so far fetched to me. But I suppose that's why it's called fiction.
So, like I said, easy to read, decent story, quick, happy, sad, all the components of a good story. However, pretty much everything about this book seemed a little too convenient for me. Infertile woman wants a baby. Her best friend doesn't. Miracle of miracles, they are a blood match and best friend can be an egg donor. Best friend has a job that keeps her away from "her" daughter. Teenage daughter has troubled boyfriend that gets her into trouble. Dad goes ballistic. Best friend has genetic disease and needs a transplant. Cop dad gets shot by troubled boyfriend's dad, dies, is an organ donor. Friend rejects organ. Daughter doesn't have genetic disorder, gives "mom" her kidney. Troubled boyfriend is adopted by sick friend. Mom uses stored embryos to have another 'miracle' baby after dad is dead. And they all live happily ever after. Lovely.
It just seemed so far fetched to me. But I suppose that's why it's called fiction.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 1, 2015
Read too much like a Lifetime movie. Two friends who grew up together. One can't have kids, the other doesn't want them. She donates eggs to friend and husband. Fourteen years later, donater has kidney disease. Donatee immediately steps forward to give one of hers. Husband not too keen. Mix in daughter (age 14) dating an older boy, has sex for the first time with boy who sells pot (just to put gas in his car--so that's all right!:!?!)and husband conveniently dying in the line of duty. The reminincing between the two women about their first sexual experiences (both 15) minimizes the fact that the kid is having sex now too. Oh well!Regrettable but hey didn't we too. No mention of this having maybe been a mistake on their part that they wouldn't like to see the girl repeat?!?! Hmm. Add some preaching about wind turbines (certainly the down side of them was not mentioned--the noise, the illnesses resulting from having them near human beings and animals, the birds destroyed every day--yeah that wasn't mentioned). But as in all Lifetime movies--everyone LIVES happily ever after. Ooops, except poor Benny--the husband.
March 9, 2010
Between Friends demonstrates that which is rarely captured: the friendship ties that bind women. Kiernan deals beautifully with the challenge of portraying the drama of in-vitro fertilization, frozen embryos, and egg donation. She captures the both the wonder and terror of motherhood--and the rift it sometimes causes in a marriage. Most of all, she gave this reader a story that made me have to know what would happen!
July 7, 2018
4.5 stars
My first by this author and I very much enjoyed it. Wasn't over saturated with excessive back story, even though there was an extensive history between the characters. There were enough details and explanation to understand the past without entire chapters dedicated to it.
There was a twist I wasn't expecting and overall it really kept me interested.
My first by this author and I very much enjoyed it. Wasn't over saturated with excessive back story, even though there was an extensive history between the characters. There were enough details and explanation to understand the past without entire chapters dedicated to it.
There was a twist I wasn't expecting and overall it really kept me interested.
June 19, 2010
This is the first time I have read this author. The book was fantastic. I really thought I could predict where this entire book was going and the author really surprised me with every single character! Excellent and surprising.
May 16, 2010
Not my review, but an interesting blog post from the author re: character development
http://www.devourerofbooks.com/2010/0...
http://www.devourerofbooks.com/2010/0...
February 4, 2024
This book is enjoyable enough, if you want something to read that you can skim through and not get too involved. I'm not even sure why I chose this book to read. Maybe I thought it would be nice to read about a real friendship. But this one just didn't do it for me.
January 7, 2021
Once I got involved, the stories in this book kept me very interested--to the point where I read the majority of it in one day, which doesn't often happen. There was a satisfactory amount of conflict/drama to hold my interest until it went overboard toward the end of the book. I much prefer some drama with an overall happy ending... I did, however, appreciate that the story was pretty well tied up at the end with an "update" down the road. On a more technical side, the author's choice to switch points of view was a bit weird; two voices were in the first person, and one was in third. I would have minded less if only one was in first person; it was occasionally easy to get lost in which character I was reading about.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2018
I found this book lying in the basement untouched. I found a strong interest by just reading the back cover. It shows how strong a relationship is between two people who have been friends since they were little. I liked how the plot went with Cora having kidney disease and Ali wanting to have another baby. That was the main focus of the story but when Benny got shot toward the end of the book I was skeptical about how it was going to end. I seriously thought Letty was going to have a kid. I really liked how the story was kind of predictable for me, but turned out totally different.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2019
When Ali and her husband Benny find out that they can't their own children Ali's best friend Cora offers to help them by donating her eggs to them. When the daughter is 14 Ali decides she wants another baby and wants to used the frozen embryos that are left. When Cora finds out she has to tell Ali she can't used them because Cora has a disease that can affect not any the embryos but the 14 year old daughter. This is a very touching story and has you from page one. I really enjoyed it.
March 14, 2018
When I finished this book, the first thing I did was look up others by Kristy Kiernan. What a masterfully told story, punctuated by emotion in all the right places. The characters in this book were all very relatable, and I felt completely drawn into their collective story. A poignant tale of love, friendship, parenthood and balance.
December 8, 2022
This quick read story touches upon so many issues of daily life…friendship, marriage, parenting, illness, and the intertwining of lives. I couldn’t put it down, enjoyed the twists and surprises, and though it wrapped up a bit too neatly in the end, I am happy to have read it. I’ll certainly be thinking of the characters and scenarios in weeks to come.
July 25, 2018
After plodding through half of the book, I skimmed to finish the rest. Very much a Lifetime movie plot. Not knocking it, this kind of book appeals to a lot of readers. I just couldn't invest in any of the main characters.
September 21, 2017
An easy read that takes several subjects( IVF, Heriditary diseases, teen age rebellion) and deals with it in a thoughtful and interesting manner. I will read more books by this author.
August 9, 2018
I really liked this story.
January 31, 2019
Beautifully told story of friendship, love, and family.
April 30, 2020
A great story about love, family and friendship.
June 4, 2020
Wonderful view of the importance of friendship and letting your children grow up..
November 7, 2020
Wow, just wow. Be prepared to shed some tears.
June 22, 2021
Poorly written
January 21, 2022
3.5 - A good beach read. Reminded me a little of Jodi Picolt’s stories, but a little too much drama for me. Everything tied up in a bow at the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 5, 2022
Great book! My friend cried when she read it but I didn’t. Really interesting read.
January 15, 2024
What a bittersweet beautiful read. You truly don’t know what life throws at you.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 166 reviews