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The False Friend Audiobook
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(2.01) - 1,930 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
From the bestselling author of Bee Season comes an astonishingly complex psychological drama with a simple setup: two eleven-year-old girls, best friends and fierce rivals, go into the woods. Only one comes out . . . Leaders of a mercurial clique of girls, Celia and Djuna reigned mercilessly over their three followers. One afternoon, they decided to walk home along a forbidden road. Djuna disappeared, and for twenty years Celia blocked out how it happened. The lie Celia told to conceal her misdeed became the accepted truth: everyone assumed Djuna had been abducted, though neither she nor her abductor was ever found. Celia’s unconscious avoidance of this has meant that while she and her longtime boyfriend, Huck, are professionally successful, they’ve been unable to move forward, their relationship falling into a rut that threatens to bury them both. Celia returns to her hometown to confess the truth, but her family and childhood friends don’t believe her. Huck wants to be supportive, but his love can’t blind him to all that contradicts Celia’s version of the past. Celia’s desperate search to understand what happened to Djuna has powerful consequences. A deeply resonant and emotionally charged story, The False Friend explores the adults that children become—leading us to question the truths that we accept or reject, as well as the lies to which we succumb.
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"This book is beautifully written and has a stunning ending that is not hammered home. It would probably be a good read for parents who are concerned about bullying, one way or another. The reader slowly learns the story as the characters are developed. "
— Donna (4 out of 5 stars)
Awards
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A 2010 San Francisco Chronicle Best Book
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Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
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Selected for the October 2010 Indie Next List
The False Friend Listener Reviews
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" Reading and reviewing this for the ELLE magazine Reader's Prize! "
— Kjersti, 2/19/2014 -
" Myla has a perfect way of explaining and capturing the relationships between friends. "
— Yolanda, 2/18/2014 -
" Very readable but I'm not sure I got anything out of it. Was there any resolution? What was I supposed to read into it? Maybe I read it too fast and din't get the deep parts? "
— Suzze, 2/4/2014 -
" It was a pretty good story, but it kind of went nowhere. I kept thinking that something was going to happen, but it really didn't. "
— Michele, 2/1/2014 -
" such a disappointment after "bee season" which i loved "
— Angie, 1/21/2014 -
" I really liked this book, but the ending mystified me. Anyone else scratching their head? "
— Deb, 1/17/2014 -
" There was potential with the story line, but it never went anywhere. There was a lot of mundane detail that made me think there was relevancy but there wasn't. This book was a waste of my time. "
— Kerri, 1/13/2014 -
" 'Paternalism at any age is condescending.' (p. 42) "
— Bryan, 1/9/2014 -
" I didn't care for this book. It was very slow, I was always waiting for something to happen. I reached the end and nothing happened. Don't waste your time. "
— Tara, 12/19/2013 -
" I didn't much care for this book. I kept thinking things would pick up and it would seem like they were just about to, and then they just wouldn't. "
— Sherree, 11/26/2013 -
" I was a little disappointed in not knowing what truley happened to the missing girl. "
— Stephanie, 10/10/2013 -
" I enjoyed this book but the ending was bit abrupt for me. Good for discussion though. "
— Hildy, 8/30/2013 -
" Goldberg captures the casual cruelty of elementary school-aged girls but doesn't do all that much with regard to the story. Not sorry to have read the book but will likely forget that I have. "
— Diana, 6/16/2013 -
" Ayelet Waldman liked this novel more than I did. It's somewhat painful to read about middle school girls' bullying, even if it occurred years ago, as in this story. I would recommend many other novels over this one. "
— Marcia, 6/16/2013 -
" False promise for a great novel. The title fooled me. "
— Pam, 2/26/2013 -
" It's interesting to a point that draws you in but the writing isn't anything noteworthy and the plot revolves around one character moping about something that happened to her in the past, not the most exciting book ever. "
— Karly, 11/27/2012 -
" Didn't care for her writing. The plot was so-so, good thing it was a quick read. "
— Wendi, 3/26/2012 -
" I do not get the big deal about Myla Goldberg, honestly. Her writing stinks and her story was disjointed and hard to follow. I gave this book two stars because I always love reading about nostalgia, no matter how bad the writing or lame the story. "
— Rebekah, 1/11/2012 -
" I wish the author had gone just a little further and showed if the main character's future was changed by her examination of the past. "
— Tracy, 8/1/2011 -
" It was enjoyable, but i was waiting for more at the end. It was lacking an ending and I wanted more information. "
— Meaghan, 6/24/2011 -
" I didn't much care for this book. I kept thinking things would pick up and it would seem like they were just about to, and then they just wouldn't. "
— Sherree, 5/11/2011 -
" I didn't care for this book. It was very slow, I was always waiting for something to happen. I reached the end and nothing happened. Don't waste your time. "
— Tara, 5/8/2011 -
" Myla has a perfect way of explaining and capturing the relationships between friends. "
— Yolanda, 4/30/2011 -
" Why? Why did I read this book-much less finish it? Why did the author write it? I really can't figure out why I stuck with it. A waste of time. "
— Julie, 4/25/2011 -
" I liked this book. Although nominally about the way that girls can be mean to each other, it is also a interesting study on the vagaries of memory. How do we reconcile our past actions with the sense that we are basically good? "
— Daphnar, 4/24/2011 -
" such a disappointment after "bee season" which i loved "
— Angie, 4/20/2011 -
" While not as strong as The Bee Season, I very much enjoyed this story about a woman who suddenly has a memory from the past that threatens to destroy her life as she's been living it. 20 years ago her best friend was kidnapped...or was she? "
— Susan, 4/13/2011 -
" I really didn't like it. Kept reading to find out what really happened and after reading the last pages several times, I'm still not sure. "
— Sarah, 4/12/2011 -
" Ayelet Waldman liked this novel more than I did. It's somewhat painful to read about middle school girls' bullying, even if it occurred years ago, as in this story. I would recommend many other novels over this one. "
— Marcia, 4/6/2011
About Myla Goldberg
Myla Goldberg is the bestselling author of several books, including Feast Your Eyes, The False Friend, Wickett’s Remedy, and Bee Season, which was a New York Times Notable Book, a winner of the Borders New Voices Prize, and a finalist for the Hemingway Foundation/PEN award, as well as being adapted to film and widely translated.