The False Friend by Myla Goldberg

I read Goldberg's book, Bee Season, several years ago and enjoyed it, so I grabbed this when I found it in the library. It recounts the story of a pair of 11 year old girls who were best friends twenty-one years ago, but who bullied and tormented other girls who wanted to be part of their clique.  The story is told in the present, from the point of view of Celia, who is now 32 and living in Chicago, and reliving the tragic event that separated the two friends permanently. Djuna, the other half of the duo, disappeared one day in Celia's company in the woods, and Celia has reminiscences of that day that haunt her and force her to return home to tell (or find out) the truth of what really happened.
The book explores how our memories of childhood are sometimes flawed and distorted, how we change as individuals with maturation and how terribly cruel young girls can be to each other.  The book took me back to my adolescence and how I sometimes was bullied or bullied others.  Celia deals too with her aging parents and their inability to express themselves about troubling events in their lives.  Celia does witness a breakthrough one morning when her parents do open up and talk freely about her brother's suicide attempt and Celia's friendship with Djuna (and how they disapproved of her friend.) But then an hour later, it was as if these conversations never took place at all and her parents go back to thier usual selves.
I did enjoy this short novel, especially near the end when Celia really comes to terms with who she was as a youngster. It is a tough topic to tackle and you have to give Myla Goldberg credit for dealing with it in such an honest manner.