Story for the Week
Corinne recently overheard a phone conversation I had. After the call, she asked me, “Does she even know you?” I laughed, and then I explained.
I was talking with my best friend Stephanie, coordinating transportation to a trivia night fundraiser. Our team included a number of people who participated last year, and Stephanie offered to ride with me so that I wouldn’t have to drive alone. That was the comment that prompted the question.
Anyone who knows me knows I’m a major introvert. I have absolutely no qualms about staying home by myself reading a book, watching television, playing The Sims. And yes, I will gladly drive myself anywhere alone. It does not bother me one bit. But I explained to Corinne that Stephanie knows a side of me that Corinne will never know.
While I am content to stay at home by myself and drive to wherever by myself, when we were in college and just after college, Stephanie and I did so many things together…all the time. When I relayed Corinne’s reaction to Stephanie, she seemed a little taken aback because she assumed that I would enjoy driving with someone more than driving alone. And the cool thing is that both of those things can be true.
Stephanie reminded me that I used to say in college that I could never go out to eat by myself or go to a movie by myself. That is absolutely true. I felt like people would stare at me, thinking I got stood up, how sad that I had to eat or go to a movie alone. As time passes, I don’t care about that at all anymore.
A while back, I took Corinne and a couple of her friends to Dave & Busters. They went off playing games, and I just sat in the bar area reading. I ordered some appetizers, had a few drinks, and it didn’t really phase me in the least. So many times when Corinne and I go out, I get tired of walking around. I find a place to sit, pull out my Kindle, and tell her to meet me back where I am. Being somewhere by myself doesn’t phase me like it used to. That just comes with age.
On the way to the trivia night, Stephanie and I had an amazing conversation. We always do. It’s almost inevitable with a 40-year friendship, and it had been a couple of months since we had seen each other. I also knew most of the people on our trivia team, so I didn’t feel out of place or uncomfortable. And we came in second place, so we all got our entry fee back. (Thank you, Mom, for teaching me how to play backgammon so I could confidently answer the final question.) All in all, it was a fantastic evening that I didn’t spend alone.
If I hadn’t made plans that evening…if I had spent the night at home by myself…that would have been ok too. My circle includes a lot of people I love who I don’t have to see or talk to every day to know that they love me too. I don’t typically get lonely when I’m alone. That’s the introvert in me. Sure, I have my moments. We all have our moments.
Corinne is the opposite. She thrives when surrounded by other people. While she takes time to herself when needed, she prefers to be in the company of others…unless I ask to go deliver Uber Eats with her. But that is a story for another day. 😉
The book reviewed below contains two main characters who are polar opposites in terms of how they spend their time. One desperately needs to be with friends. The other stays very much to herself and thinks nothing of dining alone. One evening, Remy invites Simone to dinner and comments that’s it’s been a while since she’s been out to eat.
“Simone looks ready to turn me down again but then says, ‘You don’t dine alone?’
“‘What? In a restaurant? No, I could never do that.’
“‘How interesting.’ Simone considers me. ‘How sad,’ she decides.”
In my 20s, I felt the same as Remy. I could never. In my 50s, I very much side with Simone. And the next time Stephanie offers to ride somewhere with me so I don’t have to ride alone, you can bet I’ll take her up on the invite.
“Does she even know you?” Why yes…yes, she does. ❤️
Book Review
⭐⭐⭐½
3.5 Stars for Love by the Book by Jessica George
318 pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: April 7, 2026
I received an advance copy of this title from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press.
Publisher’s Description
Remy is lucky. Her debut novel, based on her three best friends, became an instant bestseller when it was released, and her agent and publisher are clamoring for a follow-up. But just as Remy’s creative inspiration seems to leave her, so too do her friends: one moves to New York, one gets pregnant, and one gets back together with her (awful) boyfriend. After an ill-advised one-night stand complicates matters further, Remy is left deeply alone—and unable to find her next book idea.
Simone is successful. A Kindergarten teacher with a passion for kids, and a well-paying side hustle that affords her all the material comforts she desires, she doesn’t have time for a robust social life. All Simone needs is her close-knit family—but after the true nature of her work is revealed, they cut her off, and she realizes for the first time just how isolated she is.
When Simone and Remy bump into each other (literally) in a bookstore, it isn’t exactly soulmates at first sight. Simone is guarded and prickly, Remy is insecure and heartbroken, and each woman is harboring a secret. And yet they might just be the missing piece the other has been searching for—if only they can let each other in.
Can Simone help Remy make one of the most important decisions of her life—and can Remy help Simone recover all that she’s lost? In Jessica George’s heartwarming, funny, and soulful second novel, she explores the restorative nature of female friendship and the life-changing power of platonic love.
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Main Characters:
- Remy Baidoo – 30 years old; debut author of the bestselling These Four Friends based loosely on her friendship with Nova, Lin, and Melissa who all met in primary school; struggling to write the second novel required for her contract; knows Simone from primary school but not friends with her in the present day
- Simone Beduah – almost 30 years old, recently started a job as a school teacher of first-year students, also maintains a job that could be considered inappropriate, an introvert who tends to keep to herself
- Nova Knight – 29 years old, one of Remy’s foursome of best friends, recently broke up with her boyfriend David who none of her friends liked, a hair dresser with her own studio
- Lin Dhillon – 30 years old, another of Remy’s foursome of best friends, a lawyer specializing in criminal law, recently promoted, hasn’t told her friends yet that she accepted a job offer in New York
- Melissa Ortega – a few months from turning 30, the final of Remy’s foursome of best friends, works as an interior designer, married to Felix who works as a surgeon, they just put in an offer on their dream flat, hasn’t told her friends yet that the flat is outside of London and that she’s pregnant
Jessica George’s second novel looks at the platonic love of female friendships but also delves into the struggle between loneliness and being alone.
Remy, Nova, Lin, and Melissa meet for dinner every other Friday. One evening, Melissa drops the bomb that she and Felix are moving an hour outside of London and she’s pregnant. Lin follows up with the announcement that her promotion comes with a move to New York. Nova storms out of the restaurant and eventually gets back together with her ex-boyfriend. As they get busy, their group text chats peter out, and they repeatedly cancel their dinners. And Remy finds herself in a pit of loneliness and the realization that her friends don’t need her as much as she needs them.
Simone just started a new job teaching first years at a primary school, along with her well-paying side hustle. Growing up, she never really made friends but felt extremely close to her younger sister, so she’s excited to be meeting her sister’s new boyfriend and potential future husband. She keeps her private life very private and doesn’t mind being alone, but she has always had her family. When the dinner with Jenni’s boyfriend exposes Simone’s “other” job to her parents and sister, Simone finds herself alone in a way she has never experienced before.
Remy and Simone bump into one another in a bookstore—and continue to randomly cross paths. While Remy desperately wants to become friends and Simone desperately does not, Remy starts to grow on her. It is interesting to watch their relationship develop.
The point of view alternates between Remy and Simone as they navigate their loneliness and come together. I had a hard time getting into this one. Simone’s personality starts out extremely direct—almost cold and without feeling—but only with adults. She’s extremely standoffish, but with her students, she seems like an entirely different person. She still keeps her home life private, obviously, but she expresses much more empathy and caring. She’s borderline fun, and her students love her.
And when Remy’s friends all go their separate ways, I had a hard time believing that anyone’s self-esteem would realistically take that big of a hit. The story line became so depressing at times that I had a really hard time moving forward. These women have been best friends for two decades, and they just suddenly all stop talking to one another? Yes, people get busy. Life takes over, but Remy really goes down a rabbit hole. It was hard to read.
Intertwined with Remy and Simone’s chapters, though, are chapters that could become Remy’s second novel. She starts jotting down notes about her interactions with Simone just as a way to process them, and she adds in fictional details about “R” and “S”—how she think things might have played out. As the story develops, Remy still isn’t sure what it will become, but I actually enjoyed waiting to see how it turned out.
Remy and Simone’s friendship develops like a romance, which I found the most interesting. They meet. Simone isn’t interested. They meet again and start spending time together and become friends. They fall out. And they come back together stronger than before. It really does, like the description indicates, explore “the restorative nature of female friendship and the life-changing power of platonic love.”
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