cover image As Good as Dead

As Good as Dead

Elizabeth Evans. Bloomsbury, $26 (272p) ISBN 978-1-62040-298-6

Evans (The Blue Hour) explores the complexity of friendships as two women reconnect after 20 years. At the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Esme and Charlotte become friends as Esme basks in Charlotte's adulation of her. Charlotte is a smalltown girl from a staid middle-class family while Esme's wealth and upper crust upbringing fascinate Charlotte. But jealousy simmers beneath the surface of their friendship, and Charlotte's betrayal of Esme has lasting consequences. Twenty years later, Charlotte is happily married to Will, and they are both successful professors at a university in Tucson. When Esme makes an effort to reconnect with Charlotte, Charlotte is willing to see whether she can rekindle their friendship. As Charlotte and Will meet with Esme and her husband, Jeremy, the encounter quickly becomes awkward, culminating in Esme's threatening behavior. Through flashbacks, Evans contrasts Charlotte's na%C3%AFvet%C3%A9 as a young women with her confident persona as a professor. But the undercurrent of Charlotte's insecurity remains part of her personality as she is forced to face the demons of her past. Evans's expertly plotted novel is a thoroughly satisfying study of the intricacies of relationships. (Mar.)