Much like life itself Lisa shows us the importance of not taking things at face value There is to any person you meet beyond the facade they present to the world Whether you want to wipe them or dig deeper is on you The Art of Friendship is Lisa Ireland at the top of her game It s a smart and entertaining novel guided by a very big moral compass Women of all ages will enjoy this story and I highly recommend it as a book club title Perfect timing for Mother s Day too Thanks is extended to Pan Macmillan Australia for providing me with a copy The Art of Friendship for review 1760552267 I always look forward to a new Lisa Ireland novel without exception.

But she and Kit have always kept in contact So when Kit hears that Libby is returning to Melbourne she couldn t be happier and can t wait to see Libby again Only it seems things are different between Kit and Libby and their strong friendship bond they once had all those years ago is starting to become strained Will they be able to get back their strong friendship they once experienced when they were younger or is it too late The Art of Friendship by Aussie author Lisa Ireland is the first book I ve read by this author and what a terrific book to begin with I thoroughly loved this book and I m looking forward to reading books by this author Highly recommended 1760552267

The Art of Friendship By Lisa Ireland

1760552267

9781760552268

400

Paperback

Lisa Ireland is an Australian writer of contemporary women s fiction After working for many years as a primary school teacher.

It gives thought to the type of friendships you have through out your life. Libby and Kit first met as eleven year olds after Libby and her family moved to Woodvale Over the years despite living in different places at times the friendship has remained strong So when Libby announces she and the family are moving back to Melbourne Kit is overjoyed She will get to see of Libby and also Libby s son Harry to whom she is godmother It all sounds ideal What could possibly go wrong Libby on the other hand has some reservations about the move More so after she arrives and meets her husband Cam s work colleagues and their wives But if it helps Cam s career she is prepared to try and make the best of it Till events take a turn that Libby never expected and friendships are threatened. This is an interesting read and the characters are identifiable although I found for various reasons I didn t really like either of the two main characters However I could understand where they were coming from It does make you think about the amount of unspoken comments feelings and hurts that are often repressed in some relationships as people try and maintain a friendship To me the whole situation at Arcadia Lakes sounded like a nightmare being managed and organised like that This provides an interesting look at female friendships and also other relationships that are sometimes fraught with problems Another good Australian novel that is easy to read and quick to power through 1760552267 What an incredible novel this turned out to be In Lisa Ireland s latest she examines the intricacies of friendship and asks the question do lifelong friendships have a use by date But friendship isn t the only issue to come under the microscope Lisa also takes a look at parenting self confidence the lengths people will go to fit in with their chosen crowd the tendency to unfairly judge others relationships and domestic violence It s a smorgasbord of social issues but just like a puzzle all of these pieces fit neatly together forming a picture of contemporary Australian life that many will be able to relate to. Libby and Kit have been friends since they were eleven Now forty they ve spent the majority of the last twenty years navigating their friendship by distance When the two finally live in the same city again they re initially thrilled but very rapidly their friendship begins to stretch under the strain of differing views and lifestyles Now I m just going to cut right to the heart of it here I really did not like Libby Not in the beginning not in the middle and not at the end She was obsessed with perceived social status to the point of making herself sick She was insufferably hovering over her son to the point of stifling him Her low confidence in herself made her short change her husband over and over She was a wanna be even though she didn t even want to be Judgemental people with a low self esteem can be incredible toxic and I saw shades of many people I have known throughout my life in Libby Kit on the other hand I adored Was this Lisa Ireland s intention Maybe maybe not but her skill as a writer was entirely on display as Libby repeatedly misjudged Kit You didn t have to like Libby to love this story Through Libby s toxic behaviour towards Kit Lisa demonstrated the minefield that friendship can sometimes be Kit reached a point where obligation began to outweigh affection and what an interesting question this is We can all probably cite an example of a friendship we ve had that has been imbalanced You re the one who always calls or turns up etc At what point do we just pack it in and demote the friendship to an acquaintance As well as being thought provoking this is a highly entertaining read The Arcadia wives cracked me up with their superficiality I really liked Kit s blossoming relationship and her grand gesture towards the end But what I really loved about this novel what made it really perfect for me was the reality check Not everything pans out perfectly at the end tied up with a neat bow Some things are resolved but others just continue as they are so perhaps it seems strange that I ve waited almost a month after release to read and review The Art of Friendship I was waiting for a less busy time to dedicate myself to reading this wonderful story and I m glad I did because I didn t do much else besides read once I d opened it The Art of Friendship is a wonderful story that pushes both the characters and the reader to their limits It makes you question how you see your friendships and ask yourself bluntly is this working The story is about two friends from childhood Libby and Kit Kit is the first friend Libby makes when she moves to an outer suburb of Melbourne and the girls are close friends through their teens and into their early twenties They are separated physically for nearly twenty years after Libby moves to Sydney Libby and her family then return to Melbourne after her husband Cameron accepts a job offer that s nearly too good to be true Libby and Kit will be able to see each other much frequently and relive the close friendship of their youth Well that s the way it should have gone but then we wouldn t have such a great story Over the years Kit and Libby have become very different people with differing values opinions and life paths Being closer just exemplifies the differences between them and it s uncomfortable for them both Is this a friendship that should have run its course a long time ago or is it worth repairing Lisa Ireland throws up this difficult conundrum that I m pretty sure most people would have faced over time What happens when your friends don t match your life Because if variety is the spice of life it sure feels awkward and not quite right. Over the course of the story the differences between Kit and Libby are highlighted along with the major struggles in their lives Libby is a stay at home mum university dropout and has put all her eggs in the one basket son Harry She has put her heart and soul into Harry s life being just right Dealing with the stress of living very closely with the wives of her husband s colleagues only fuels Libby s need to be liked and perfect Sure it s all a bit Stepford wife like but Libby knows she has to succeed here So when Harry turns out not to be her perfect petal she is beyond devastated Lashing out at Kit is one way she lets out her frustrations Kit is the total opposite part time lecturer job helping women experiencing domestic violence single no kids and comfortable in herself But when Kit starts a relationship with Libby s arch nemesis the friendship turns to home truths and low blows. What I really admired about The Art of Friendship is that it wasn t afraid to show the ugly bits That Harry might be a bit of a weird kid That Libby would sell her soul to be perfect and part of the in crowd That Kit can be too outspoken and passionate That sometimes friendship is going through the motions rather than truly caring for each other It was a bit uncomfortable at times as the truths were laid bare and the characters revealed to be far from perfect But I just wanted to keep reading Even though I found Libby a bit lacklustre in ambition beyond Harry and appearance she was still adequately redeemed at the end of the novel I must admit to being Team Kit as I felt she was open to her faults and at ease Overall I loved the story The pacing is tight the secrets satisfying and pages just turned themselves Overall this is Lisa s best book to date. com 1760552267 This is the perfect gift for Mother s Day or just a great read for women of any age Australian Lisa Ireland looks at just what makes some friendships last a lifetime and others for only a short while Libby and Kit are childhood friends growing up in Melbourne then Libby gets married and moves away to another city The two friends correspond the whole time and when years later Libby s husband gets the dream job back in Melbourne the two friends are so excited to be living close to each other again But have they changed too much to go back to the way they were And what about the new friends Libby has made of the wives of her husband s new work colleagues What secrets do they hide behind their Stepford Wives fa ade Throw in an only child with anxiety a handsome private school principal and you get a great read Leanne 1760552267 We all expect our friendships from childhood to last forever Libby and Kit have been best friends ever since the day 11 year old Kit bounded up to Libby s bedroom window They ve seen each other through first kisses bad break ups and everything in between It s almost 20 years since Libby moved to Sydney but they ve remained close despite the distance and the different paths their lives have taken So when Libby announces she s moving back to Melbourne Kit is overjoyed They re best friends practically family so it doesn t matter that she and Libby now have different well different everything actually or so it seems when they re finally living in the same city again Or does it The Art of FriendshipEleven year old Libby and her parents had had to sell their farm and move into the city Woodvale in Melbourne was nothing like the family was used to but it didn t take Libby long to make friends Kit lived over the road from Libby and the very first day she had spotted Libby at her bedroom window Kit declared they would be best friends forever As they moved through school together first primary then high school their friendship didn t falter It was when Kit was in London that Libby met Cameron married him and moved to Sydney. Through letters emails and long phone calls the two friends remained close it was twenty years later when both Libby and Kit were in their late thirties and Libby s son Harry was thirteen that Cam announced he d procured a top job in Melbourne They were returning home Kit was ecstatic as was Libby But would their friendship be the same Kit was Harry s godmother and thought the world of him as he did her But Libby s life went a different way when she Cam and Harry moved into Arcadia Lakes a new elite subdivision with elegant housing and much Keeping up with the wives of the executives was something which scared Libby half to death but she would do it But at what cost Would Kit and Libby remain friends Would their lifetime of friendship sustain any issues that might arise The Art of Friendship by Aussie author Lisa Ireland is a look at how people grow how they change and how they remain the same The difference between childhood friendships and adult friendships is vast that person you befriended as a child might not be one you d befriend as an adult But what happens when that friendship goes from childhood through to adulthood when two people turn out to be vastly different from each other The complexity of our lives from being parents to careers basically to choices we make is real and emotional Lisa Ireland has tackled all issues in The Art of Friendship with sensitivity and she makes it very realistic Highly recommended. With thanks to Pan Macmillan Australia for my ARC to read and review 1760552267 Lisa s last book The Shape of Us has been shortlisted for the AusRom Today Reader s Choice Award for book of the year and Lisa has been shortlisted for the Best Established author The Shape of Us was also in my top 10 reads of 2017. The Art of Friendship wasn t exactly how I imagined it to be I thought it was going to be a BFF follow their lives a bust up then HEA Basically it was along those lines but so much It was a look at the different types of friendships we have during our lives Friends that come and go and those that we have known forever these know all our secrets Sometimes you follow different paths as is the case with Libby and Kit but there is so much history that binds you Friends come and go people change and your best friend from childhood and your teens may not connect with you in adulthood Is there a time when you should let these friendships go There s something about friends we form in childhood that makes them hard to let go even when we no longer have anything in common The narrative is written in both Libby and Kit s POV so the reader gets a very good idea of how both women are thinking of the friendship and each other However the main focus is on Libby as she moves through different friendship groups and how these friendships affect her relationship with Kit. Watching their relationship was painful with the back and forward bitterness and Libby s overreacting to situations I was really hoping the girls would work it out as lifelong friendships are so precious. Lisa Ireland came across this idea of friendships and how they impact our life after seeing an article on ghosting which is apparently a real thing in this overly connected world of social media. Thank you to Pan Macmillan Australia for my copy for review purposes 1760552267 starsFriendships we have them and we lose them Sometimes we can t live without them other times we are up in arms about ending them The Art of Friendship is a new novel that puts one great big ring around a friendship between two women that formed in childhood has lasted the distance but is now at a breaking point. The Art of Friendship explores how one relationship formed from childhood grows and changes Ireland asks the reader to consider what happens to long standing friendships when we grow into adults For the leads of this novel Kit and Libby they have supported one another through many good times and bad Now twenty years into their friendship and despite the physical distance that has separated them the two have made an effort to maintain their friendship When Libby finally returns home to Melbourne a chance to be back in one another s lives in a full time capacity presents itself For Kit this is welcome news as she considers Libby to be family However events and feelings transpire that begin to show just how different these two women now are Can their friendships survive and thrive or are their differences just too great to overcome Friendships are an everyday part of our lives What I loved about this novel was Lisa Ireland s ability to tackle in the everyday Her novel captures the essence of normality Her tone and overall writing style is one that sits well with me Ireland s writing is best described as down to earth and incredibly straightforward Ireland tells it as it is she takes ordinary moments in our lives and is able to put the issues under the spotlight She draws out our grievances reservations and inner thoughts to a tee. Although the title and main subject matter does concern itself with the emotionally fraught territory of friendship there are plenty of other just as compelling themes for the reader to explore in this novel With the overriding theme of friendship Ireland draws all readers not matter their creed into her novel However running alongside this main concept is a great side focus on careers love relationships family backgrounds marriage parenting finances personal satisfaction anxiety and bullying It sounds like a lot of ground to cover but the way in which Ireland tackles these everyday problems is what makes this book both resonating and truly special. I really loved Ireland s characterisation in her previous novel The Shape of Us and her new novel again demonstrates her aptitude in this region Although you make not like both of the main characters Libby may get under your skin it is impossible to deny that they have been composed exceptionally well I enjoyed following of the lives of both leads it was an entertaining and at times self reflective process I did stop and reflect on my own friendship history It was a little confronting at first but the insight I gained from Ireland and the heartfelt journey her characters embark upon was well worth the emotional ride. I appreciated the set up of this novel very much within the unfolding narrative we see a friendship form from childhood solidify in high school cement itself in university years and slowly take a downfall in adult years It is an interesting cycle to say the least The parts I enjoyed the most were the flashbacks to the very early days in Kim and Libby s friendship I loved the being transported back to a time late 80 s 90 s I look upon with great fondness. Ireland s closure of The Art of Friendship is not a completely straightforward one After some soul searching confrontation emotions tears and some unresolved issues for the characters of The Art of Friendship Ireland chooses to exit the novel at this point For me this ending worked well That s real life in a nutshell The Art of Friendship is one novel that really hit home I uncovered some hard truths but I am thankful for the experience I shared with Lisa Ireland and her character set. The Art of Friendship is a book that I heartily recommend It is a very contemporary and connective novel that examines a commonplace aspect of our lives friendships Do we need certain friendships as much we think we do I ll leave you with that final note to explore. The Art of Friendship is book 41 of the Australian Women Writers Challenge 1760552267 STOP WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING AND READ THIS BOOK Okay you can t do that because it s not out yet Sorry But as soon as it is refer to my statement above I loved Lisa Ireland s first book The Shape of Us I mean LOVED it but this friends is even better I connected to this book on so many levels It is simple yet complicated sad and real uplifting and funny It is about the friendships we hold and those we lose Something about it felt intensely personal It is that book that forces you to put it down periodically and reflect on it I will be thinking about this book for a long time 1760552267 Childhood best friends since the age of eleven Kit and Libby have always been there for one another over the years A friendship that would last forever or would it It s been almost 20 years since Libby moved from Melbourne to go and live in Sydney Lisa is a now a full time writer. Her novel Feels Like Home is an Australian Bestseller In 2015 Lisa was one of the Top Ten Debut Fiction Authors in Australia She has five books published to date and her sixth novel THE SECRET LIFE OF SHIRLEY SULLIVAN will be released in MAY 2020. Thank you to Pan Macmillan for the copy of this book My review is honest. Ireland conveys through her story that some friendships are for a common reason some only for a season and others are a bond that traverses time and distance, The Art of Friendship will make you stop think ponder and question every friendship you ve ever had, Ghosting noun The practice of ending a personal relationship with someone suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication, When she s not writing Lisa can be found running okay shuffling drinking coffee at her favourite cafes or perusing the shelves of her local bookstore. She loves eating but not cooking is an Olympic class procrastinator and most importantly minion to a rather large dog.An enjoyable read 1760552267 Three and a half stars.http samstillreading.wordpress..