The Friend

WINNER OF THE 2018 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2018

A moving story of love, friendship, grief, healing, and the magical bond between a woman and her dog.

When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is intensified by the mute suffering of the dog, a huge Great Dane traumatised by the inexplicable disappearance of its master, and by the threat of eviction: dogs are prohibited in her apartment building.

While others worry that grief has made her a victim of magical thinking, the woman refuses to be separated from the dog except for brief periods of time. Isolated from the rest of the world, increasingly obsessed with the dog's care, determined to read its mind and fathom its heart, she comes dangerously close to unravelling. But while troubles abound, rich and surprising rewards lie in store for both of them.

Elegiac and searching, THE FRIEND is both a meditation on loss and a celebration of human-canine devotion.

"A beautiful book ... a world of insight into death, grief, art, and love." -Wall Street Journal

"A penetrating, moving meditation on loss, comfort, memory...Nunez has a wry, withering wit." -NPR

"Dry, allusive and charming...the comedy here writes itself." The New York Times

“The contemplation of writing and the loss of integrity in our literary life form the heart of the novel...Nunez's prose itself comforts us. Her confident and direct style uplifts-the music in her sentences, her deep and varied intelligence. She addresses important ideas unpretentiously and offers wisdom for any aspiring writer who, as the narrator fears, may never know this dear, intelligent friend-or this world that is dying. But is it dying? Perhaps. But with The Friend , Nunez provides evidence that, for now, it survives”

A poignant reflection on loss and companionship - Marie Claire

The Friend is a powerful meditation on writing as well as love and loss. - Extended Review - Sydney Morning Herald, The Saturday Age

The final words are heartbreaking, but somehow fitting for this story of deep friendship, as well as grief, as felt by the canine and human characters. - Good Reading

Sigrid Nunez is the New York Times bestselling author of The Friend, winner of the 2018 National Book Award, and of seven other novels, including Salvation City, The Last of Her Kind, and What Are You Going Through. She is also the author of Sempre Susan: A Memoir of Susan Sontag. Her books have been translated into over thirty languages.

WINNER OF THE 2018 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2018 A moving story of love, friendship, grief, healing, and the magical bond between a woman and her dog. When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is intensified by the mute suffering of the dog, a huge Great Dane traumatised by the inexplicable disappearance of its master, and by the threat of eviction: dogs are prohibited in her apartment building.While others worry that grief has made her a victim of magical thinking, the woman refuses to be separated from the dog except for brief periods of time. Isolated from the rest of the world, increasingly obsessed with the dog's care, determined to read its mind and fathom its heart, she comes dangerously close to unravelling. But while troubles abound, rich and surprising rewards lie in store for both of them.Elegiac and searching, THE FRIEND is both a meditation on loss and a celebration of human-canine devotion. "A beautiful book ... a world of insight into death, grief, art, and love." -Wall Street Journal "A penetrating, moving meditation on loss, comfort, memory...Nunez has a wry, withering wit." -NPR "Dry, allusive and charming...the comedy here writes itself." The New York Times

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