We are taught that our romantic relationships are work, while friendships should be effortless, so once our friendships become ‘work’ too, we can simply walk away from them. Because they were also business partners, the motivation to save their relationships held much more weight, yet their story is still one that may surprise others because as a society we are conditioned to believe that friendships aren’t worth the effort. Still, they pushed through and visited a therapist together, determined to save their ‘big friendship’, much like a married couple visits a counsellor. At one point, the idea of simply walking away would have been easier than trying to repair what was left. But as friendships are known to, theirs began to crack major issues left untouched, hurtful comments made and not apologized for, increasing reluctance to deal head-on with problems, all pushed these women to the brink of a friendship meltdown. From there, they immediately hit it off and become very close friends, nursing each other through breakups, daunting job changes, and multiple moves across the U.S.A.

Realistically, I’ll never have the time I once did to devote to them, but I am making an effort to nurture them back to health, so this book popped up at just the right time for me.Īnn and Aminatou were introduced by a mutual friend at a Gossip Girl viewing party. Once you’ve been the through the ravages of childbirth and baby minding, the friendships that once sustained you before becoming a parent are able to move back up in importance. Since when have you read a (factual!) book that just dissects a friendship of two normal people? Not celebrities, just, everyday people? It’s uncommon to say the least, and although it would be a stretch to call this book groundbreaking, it’s addressing something that I’m personally thinking about more and more now that my baby brain fog is slowly lifting. Big Friendship, How we Keep Each Other Close by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman piqued my interest because it deals with a topic so rarely addressed in anything other than a magazine article: close friendships and their own unique dynamics. This is why celebrity memoirs rarely interest me, because I find they touch on similar things regardless of the author (rags to riches, sobriety, etc.).

When I read non-fiction I’m always on the look-out for something unique, a new topic or perspective that hasn’t been done to death.

Big friendship