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‘Between friends’, which I last read in 2004, is firmly set in a small village in the UK. It was written in 1992 as a contemporary modern novel. And it features a highly unusual situation, one which I had vaguely recalled even more than twenty years after reading.
Tessa is the main character, although there are many viewpoints given in the course of the novel. The opening sentence tells us - very cleverly - that something life-changing has happened in her kitchen, although there are no obvious signs. Sunlight continues to stream in, and Tessa continues pouring coffee for her good friend Maddy. I assume they’re both around forty.
Maddy has made a comment about something which she could only have known about if she had spent some time with Tessa’s husband Nick. And Tessa knows, in a moment of intuition, that they are having an affair. Nick is a serial philanderer, and she has decided to forgive him each time one of his brief interludes ends. She loves him, and he’s a good provider, a good father, and mostly they get along very well.
However, this is something new. Maddy is not an unknown fling. She isn’t even Nick’s type… and Tessa starts to wonder if she’s mistaken. But the author makes it clear, right from the start, that this is something that’s happening. The novel - which takes place over the course of just three months - revolves around Tessa’s decisions and concerns. For it’s not just Nick she doesn’t want to lose; Maddy is her confidante, someone she enjoys spending time with, and she doesn’t want to lose her either.
Mrs Cloomb, who is Tessa’s cleaning lady, has a husband who drinks too much and becomes abusive. Tessa would like to do something about this, but is never able to get beyond sympathy and extra tea. And Mrs Cloomb’s situation contrasts dramatically with her own; Nick is basically charming and generous, after all.
Then there’s Eleanor, the vicar’s sister, who is rather caricatured and fussy, but quite likeable too. There’s Phoebe, a woman who suffers depression and other problems, who is helped a lot by Maddy. There’s Colin, a friend and former colleague of Nick’s, who is dying. His wife, Sophia, is another caricature of an over-emotional harridan, who is furious that Nick and other colleagues would really like to get hold of some important business papers that are in their home.
There are other subplots too, as is normal in village-style novels, and quite a number of other characters. I didn’t manage to keep track of them all, and couldn’t always remember who was whom. But it didn’t really matter. There’s a biggish story about the harvest supper, and a sale which is followed by a whist drive. I was able to appreciate and even enjoy some of the disagreements without always remembering who was involved.
I liked Tessa very much as a character. Thankfully, I have never had to relate to anything like her situation, but I could understand her thoughts and reasoning. She’s a three-dimensional creation, more so than any of the others, and I almost felt as if she had become a friend by the end of the book.
Since it’s so long since I read the book, I’d forgotten most of the storyline, and had no idea how it was going to end. I couldn’t remember how the various arguments in the village were resolved, nor whether Tessa ever tells Nick and Maddy that she knows what’s going on. Maddy’s husband Robert is more of a shadowy character, and I wasn’t sure how he would react if he found out was was happening. Nor did I recall whether the affair petered out, or whether Nick and Maddy decided to move out… or how it would end.
The writing is good, the pace just right to keep my interest, and the story a good one which made me feel a good sense of village life. There’s no fast action, or any major plot or even unexpected revelations, since we know from the start what’s happening. But if you like this kind of women’s fiction, I would recommend it. It's long out of print, sadly, but often available second-hand.
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