Charlotte Pierce has had a solitary childhood, eked out in large houses with empty people doing empty things; the only person who ever remembered her birthday was Cook. She has two close friends from her school days: Barty, an acclaimed photographer, and Therese, who now runs an animal sanctuary. Blissfully ignorant, the two girls don't know it, but Barty and Therese are the most important people in Charlie's life - and she will do anything to keep them. Sarah Kennedy's first novel is a compelling psychological chiller that examines the devastating effects of a damaged childhood. A mixture of Highsmith and Rendell, a new style in suspense.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The flat recollection of a materially privileged, emotionally deprived childhood mark this dreary tale about pathetic, egotistical aristocrat and part-time BBC Agony Aunt, or advice columnist, Charlotte Pierce. Age 42 and single, Charlotte spends the bulk of her days recalling the injuries inflicted on her by her alcoholic mother, philandering father and cruel younger brother. When sent away to St. Margaret's girls' school, Charlotte latched on to two classmates, Barty and Therese, whom she designated as her family. While still in school, Charlotte turned her friends against each other so that she could be best friend to each, an arrangement which, murderously orchestrated by Charlotte, has obtained for more than 20 years. Readers learn that Barty's new lesbian lover fell victim to Charlotte and that Charlotte also hastened the demise of a hated BBC producer who suffered a heart attack. Having instigated Barty's increased dependence on her, Charlotte keeps Therese nearby by exposing the criminal past of Therese's lover and thus driving him away. What Charlotte can't manipulate to her own ends is the reunion at St. Margaret's at which her evil deeds are likely to be exposed. Though the material is potentially engaging, this first fiction effort is marked most by a clinical coldness.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Charlotte Pierce appears to have everything: aristocratic background, pots of money, a small but visible job at the BBC, and a stunning house in Belgravia. Unfortunately, for a few of those around her, she also suffers the effects of a loveless and humiliating childhood: she's insecure, selfish, and manipulative. The resultant psychosis bodes ill for her two long-time boarding-school girlfriends, whose attachment to her she jealously places above secrecy, deceit, and even murder. An unnerving first psychological thriller, written with deadly flair.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant,
By A Customer
This review is from: Charlotte's Friends (Hardcover)
A first class rattling good read. Well written and delightfully chilling. Free from cliche and easy ways out. this is an author going places.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Okay but could have been better,
By A Customer
This review is from: Charlotte's Friends (Hardcover)
When Charlotte Pierce was growing up, she was an unhappy loner. She loathed her parents and younger brother because of all the abuse they inflicted on her. At boarding school, Charlotte meets her only two friends, Barty and Therese, and adopts them as her family. To maintain the twosome as her family, Charlotte manages to keep them apart by turning them against each other even as she remains their best friend. Now in her forties, Charlotte has spent much of the last two plus decades manipulating her two friends into doing her bidding. Anyone who happens to become involved with either Barty or Therese is forced away or simply murdered. Barty's lesbian lover was killed and so was a BBC producer. Charlotte controls Therese through the woman's lover, who has a criminal history. However, a school reunion is coming up and Charlotte's machinations may finally come out into the open. CHARLOTTE'S FRIENDS is a well-written story that grabs the reader! with its dark subject. However, though the story line is extremely interesting and demonstrates that Sarah Kennedy has talent, the characters except for the lead protagonist seem flat, lacking emotion and motives, thereby hurting the novel. Overall, this dark tale will be enjoyed by fans of psychological terror. Harriet Klausner
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