More Like Her by Liza Palmer

My introduction to Liza Palmer's books came via the excellent Seeing Me Naked, a book that held so much more for me than the title (or cover) seemed to imply. I've reread it and handed it to so many people since then, and I've been looking forward to the release of More Like Her for some time now. I purchased my copy back when it was released and then just . . . held onto it (as I often do) for the right night. And though I went in expecting it this time, Ms. Palmer surprised me with the level of ambition with which she approached this novel. Once again, I think the cover (which I quite like) is quietly deceptive as to its contents, though those red shoes do seem more ominous than they did when I originally picked it up. I kind of love that. The title I find perfectly fitting as well. So.

Frances and her best friend Jill are guidance counselors at the prestigious Markham School--a prep academy in San Francisco. Having recently and unwillingly become single again after yet another ill-fated voyage with one of the male teachers at the school, Frances is thrown for an additional loop by Emma Dunham. Emma is the new headmistress at Markham. Poised, witty, and clearly successful, Emma is everything Frances would like to hate but can't because she's just so nice, so genuine. As time passes, she admires Emma from afar until a bullying situation brings them closer together. On the cusp of becoming real friends, the two women are torn apart by the unthinkable. In the aftermath, Frances and Jill, their new friend and colleague Lisa, and their respective husbands and/or significant others struggle to make sense of the tragedy and their individual roles in it.

Palmer opens with the following epigraph:

One can't build little white picket fences to keep nightmares out. --Anne Sexton

And that pretty much sums up the tone of this novel. The epigraph is followed by a truly harrowing two-page prologue and then by chapter one, entitled "Lipstick and Palpable Fear." So, yeah. I pretty much loved it. Like her characters, Palmer's writing always has more going on under the surface than at first meets the eye. You think you're going into your standard tale of down-on-her-luck girl has romantic woes and makes good with her feisty personality and killer shoes. But beyond the setup you are treated to a thoughtful exploration of what it means to know someone. Really know someone. And how impossible it is to ever know just what's going on behind the superficial. Also, because it's Liza Palmer, you get wonderfully nuanced family relationships and tentative romance. One of my favorite early passages in which Frances describes her best friend Jill:

Amid all of her more shallow inclinations and superficial dress-downs of other women, Jill has always seen me as beautiful. Beautiful in a way I have yet to see myself. Beautiful in a way I don't even think she sees herself as, despite all evidence to the contrary. The night Ryan left I sobbed to Jill that my brown hair was too drab. It's mysterious, she said. I think I should take off a few pounds. You've got great tits, she said in a particularly uncomfortable moment. I have no style. Let's face it, I wailed, it boils down to me wearing a lot of beaded cardigans. You're rocking a hearth-wear-meets-vintage thing! It's effortlessly perfect, she said. I may believe I'm not up to snuff, but Jill? Jill thinks I can date the Great Gatsby.

Win. I love this description of the way our best friends see us. It certainly rang true for me. And that certainty of theirs that you can date the Great Gastby is what sees you through so many of the curve balls life throws you. This is a tough book to read. The tragedy is truly horrific. And timely, unfortunately. But Ms. Palmer tempers it with emotionally resonant scenes and moments of levity that left me turning the pages eagerly. I like how she hits you with the big scene fairly early on, but doesn't ever blow her wad too soon. She takes all her pages to get the job done and I was happy with where she left things. More Like Her is a warm and exploratory novel, filled with big questions and true friends. Recommended.

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Linkage
A Bookish Way of Life - " . . . will definitely leave you wondering about the people you know and how well you really do know them."
A Soul Unsung - " . . . the perfect blend of chick-lit with harsh reality"
Peeking Between the Pages - " . . . a book that I had trouble putting down and finished in a day."