WINNER OF THE 2018 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
‘A true delight: I genuinely fear I won’t read a better novel this year’ FINANCIAL TIMES
‘Loved this. A funny, moving examination of love, grief, and the uniqueness of dogs’ GRAHAM NORTON
‘Delicious’ SUNDAY TIMES 100 BEST SUMMER READS
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, and by the threat of eviction: dogs are prohibited in her apartment building.
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.
‘Very, very clever. Mature. Entertaining. Eminently readable and re-readable. Absolutely delightful’ IRISH TIMES
‘I loved it . . . It’s one of my favourite books and it moved me’ WHOOPI GOLDBERG
A New York Times Notable Book of 2018 * A Financial Times 2018 Best Book: Critics Pick * A Buzzfeed Best Book of 2018 * A Bustle Best Fiction Book of 2018 * An NPR Best Book of 2018 * Shortlisted for the 2020 International Dublin Literary Award
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
‘A true delight: I genuinely fear I won’t read a better novel this year’ FINANCIAL TIMES
‘Loved this. A funny, moving examination of love, grief, and the uniqueness of dogs’ GRAHAM NORTON
‘Delicious’ SUNDAY TIMES 100 BEST SUMMER READS
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, and by the threat of eviction: dogs are prohibited in her apartment building.
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.
‘Very, very clever. Mature. Entertaining. Eminently readable and re-readable. Absolutely delightful’ IRISH TIMES
‘I loved it . . . It’s one of my favourite books and it moved me’ WHOOPI GOLDBERG
A New York Times Notable Book of 2018 * A Financial Times 2018 Best Book: Critics Pick * A Buzzfeed Best Book of 2018 * A Bustle Best Fiction Book of 2018 * An NPR Best Book of 2018 * Shortlisted for the 2020 International Dublin Literary Award
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Reviews
Charming . . . the comedy here writes itself . . . The snap of her sentences sometimes puts me in mind of Rachel Cusk
The book is an intimate, beautiful thing, deceptively slight at around 200 pages, but humming with insight . . . [an] artfully discursive meditation on friendship, love, death, solitude, canine companionship and the life of an aging writer in New York .. peppered with wry observations
A true delight: I genuinely fear I won't read a better novel this year
A sneaky gut punch of a novel . . . a consummate example of the human-animal tale
Astonishingly fresh and tinged with sadness . . . a highly entertaining, uplifting book exploring the magical bond between humans and canines. A must-read for dog-lovers
The Friend is a perfect novel about the size of grief and love, and like the dog at the book's center, the book takes up more space than you expect. It's my favorite kind of masterpiece - one you can put into anyone's hand
After suffering the loss of an old friend and adopting his Great Dane, the book's heroine muses on death, friendship, and the gifts and burdens of a literary life. Out of these fragments a philosophy of grief springs like a rabbit out of a hat; Nunez is a magician
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 pitch-perfect novel . . . Wry and moving, The Friend is a love story, a mania story and a recovery story
A poignant reflection on loss and companionship
I loved it . . . It's one of my favourite books and it moved me
Loved this. A funny, moving examination of love, grief, and the uniqueness of dogs
Very very clever. Mature. Entertaining. Eminently readable and re-readable. In short, absolutely delightful.
A beautiful book . . . crammed with a world of insight into death, grief, art, and love
Delicious . . . An intensely pleasurable read because it is so accessible, capacious and clever
Often as funny as it is thoughtful, The Friend is an elegant meditation on grief, friendship, healing, and the bonds between humans and dogs
In crystalline prose, Nunez creates an impressively controlled portrait of the 'exhaustion of mourning'
She has a wry compassion, and an eye for the kind of detail only grown-ups can catch. The books feel lived-in rather than hard-earned, the voice is smart and kind
An elegant and darkly humorous meditation on grief and companionship, it's a great read - whether or not you're obsessed with canines