From the critically acclaimed author of "Stuffed" comes a rich, generous novel that has a lot to say about the complexity of friendship, the use and abuse of secrets, and the restorative power of love--"O, The Oprah Magazine."
Alice and Nanny have never met before, but they have one thing in common: their late friend Roberta. Alice is the prim proprietor of a chic Madison Avenue shop, while Nanny is a sharp-eyed Manhattan real-estate broker. This New York odd couple is thrown together when Roberta trusts them with her last request—that together they open her safe-deposit box. What they find inside compels these women to address a surprising truth about their beloved Roberta. A profound yet hilarious novel, To My Dearest Friends is the story of two women and a journey of friendship neither chose to take.
“""To My Dearest Friends" has an irresistible premise: Two weeks after Roberta 'Bobbi' Bloom dies, her lawyer calls her two best friends, Alice Vogel and Nanny Wunderlich, to his office. Why? Because Bobbi has given them keys to a safety deposit box. And now the lawyer has a letter for them from Bobbi. Alice and Nanny-who have nothing in common but their friendship with the deceased-go to the bank. In the box, they find another letter. A love letter. To Bobbi. Undated. With no further instructions. . . . Obviously, Alice and Nanny can't agree what to do next. But in the course of not agreeing they have reasons to get together. And we get two treats along the way: wonderfully sharp dialogue and observations, and a quick but deep look into the lives of two New York women. . . . I hoovered this book in an evening. . . . How does it turn out? With a fantastic surprise. . . . "To My Dearest Friends" is an addictive urban adventure story. Nancy Drew for the post-menopausal. Chick-lit for grown-up chicks. And, just maybe, the first novel about New York women to ring a bell for readers in the 'burbs since "The Devil Wore Prada." You don't have to be 50-plus to enjoy "To My Dearest Friends." Or even a woman. You just have to like 'smart.'" -Jesse Kornbluth, HeadButler.com "Charming . . . A disarming story about marriage, friendship and choices that are kept secret until there's a reason to give them away. . . . We see things from [Nanny and Alice's] points of view, which is wonderful because, although they are very different, they share a city (New York graces every page), a wry intelligence and a wit perfected by years of experience." -Anne Stephenson, "Arizona Republic" "Amischievous novel featuring two amateur sleuths seeking clues about their deceased friend's secret lover." -"People" magazine "Patricia Volk's new novel-clever, funny, light . . . [with] a sly twist at the end-celebrates a precious urban resource: working women in their late 50's and early 60's, whose children have left home and who now have the space to reflect on their lives and to catalog the wonders and curiosities of the metropolitan landscape. . . . They are the city's true grown-ups. In "To My Dearest Friends," two such women, Nanny and Alice, are brought together by the last will and testament of a mutual friend, Roberta, who died three months earlier. Roberta has left them a letter locked away in a safe-deposit box, a steamy missive from an unknown lover. . . . [Nanny and Alice]-two very different women, each wary of the other-come to life on the page. . . . The result is agreeably intimate, a double portrait grounded in the detail of daily life. . . . [Ms. Volk] deals in individuals, not types. . . . "To My Dearest Friends" is a novel about privacy and secrecy, the difference between them and the various reasons why we need both. But Patricia Volk doesn't hammer at her theme; she treats it like a topic worth tossing around, not the moral of the story. After all, she also has another, jollier topic to entertain us with: the abiding mystery of friendship." -Adam Begley, "New York Observer" "Some writers have a magically light touch . . . . Patricia Volk's sparkling new novel, "To My Dearest Friends," will appeal to the same demographic as Nora Ephron's "I Feel Bad About My Neck," It's the kind of book you read aloud from until friends beg you to stop so theycan get their own copy. When Roberta, a family therapist, dies of breast cancer in her early 60s, she leaves instructions for her two best friends to open a safe deposit box together. Thrown together by this odd request, the two women, who dislike each other at first sight, find a passionate letter from a lover they never knew Roberta had. What to do with this unwanted information? Prim, snooty Alice . . . thinks they should tear up the letter and forget about it, sparing Roberta's widower and daughter any possible hurt. Nanny Wunderlich, "a lapsed therapist" turned realtor . . . fe”
“Every page is studded with precise and succulent detail. . . . A cozy, kick-off-your-shoes-and-curl-up novel.” —The New York Times Book Review“Deliciously mischievous. . . . This deceptively light book has a lot to say about the complexity of friendship, the use and abuse of secrets, and the restorative power of love.” —O, The Oprah magazine“A book about the intensity and beauty of life after 50. . . . Funny from the get-go, and a dear, timeless tale by its end.” —More magazine “Sparkling. . . . It's the kind of book you read aloud from until friends beg you to stop so they can get their own copy. . . . An irresistible confection.” —Newsday"Clever, funny, light. . . . A novel about privacy and secrecy, the differences between them, and why we need both." —The New York Observer
Patricia Volk is the author of the memoir Stuffed; the novels To My Dearest Friends and White Light; and two collections of short stories, All it Takes and The Yellow Banana. She has published stories, book reviews, and essays in dozens of newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, New York, The New Yorker and Playboy. She was a weekly columnist for New York Newsday, and she lives in New York.
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