Among Friends by Hal Ebbott

I LOVED his writing! Very elegant and lyrical. Reminded me of John Banville or someone like him. The story kept my attention, too. It was a powerful book.

From Amazon:

It’s an autumn weekend at a comfortable New York country house where two deeply intertwined families have gathered to mark the host’s fifty-second birthday.

Together, the group forms an enviable portrait of middle age. The wives and husbands have been friends for over thirty years, their teenage daughters have grown up together, and the dinners, games, and rituals forming their days all reflect the rich bonds between them.

This weekend, however, something is different. An unforeseen curdling of envy and resentment will erupt in an unspeakable act, the aftermath of which exposes treacherous fault lines upon which they have long dwelt.

Written with hypnotic elegance and molten precision, and announcing the arrival of a major literary talent, Hal Ebbott’s Among Friends examines betrayal within the sanctuary of a defining relationship, as well as themes of class, marriage, friendship, power, and the things we tell ourselves to preserve our finely made worlds.

So Far Gone by Jess Walter

This stated out strong for me. I was listening while walking and the audio version was great. Then it ran out and I got the hard copy book. The experience was different. I did not enjoy the book as much. Interesting. 

It was a good, fun read. Characters are quirky and interesting. Plot line is a caper.  Enjoyable summer read.  Not as literary as his book Beautiful Ruins, which I read long ago and loved.

Rabbit Moon by Jennifer Haigh

I was drawn to this book because of the author; she wrote Mercy Street, a favorite book of mine.  This book drew me in instantly and I found the narrative compelling but disturbing. Basically, a young American woman gets hit (a hit and run) in Shanghai and is in a coma in a Chinese hospital. Her parents (divorced and estranged) come to China to try to unravel the story.  And a story it is! There's a younger sister, Grace, who adores her older sister Lindsay, and Grace was adopted during the period of time when Chinese couples were restricted to the "one child rule." Many gave up their daughters in favor of trying again for a male.

I will say that the last 50 pages or so were a bit hard to handle. I was surprised at a development that occurred in the story at this point and I was therefore distracted, or unengaged a bit for the last 50 pages. I think this was a mistake on my part, however, and if I did not have 4 or 5 books waiting for me at the Library, I may have gone back and re-read these pages again.