Something Borrowed [Hardcover]

Emily Giffin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2004

Something Borrowed tells the story of Rachel, a young attorney living and working in Manhattan. Rachel has always been the consummate good girl---until her thirtieth birthday, when her best friend, Darcy, throws her a party. That night, after too many drinks, Rachel ends up in bed with Darcy's fiancé. Although she wakes up determined to put the one-night fling behind her, Rachel is horrified to discover that she has genuine feelings for the one guy she should run from. As the September wedding date nears, Rachel knows she has to make a choice. In doing so, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk all to win true happiness. Something Borrowed is a phenomenal debut novel that will have you laughing, crying, and calling your best friend.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Product Description

The smash-hit debut novel for every woman who has ever had a complicated love-hate friendship.

 

Rachel White is the consummate good girl. A hard-working attorney at a large Manhattan law firm and a diligent maid of honor to her charmed best friend Darcy, Rachel has always played by all the rules. Since grade school, she has watched Darcy shine, quietly accepting the sidekick role in their lopsided friendship. But that suddenly changes the night of her thirtieth birthday when Rachel finally confesses her feelings to Darcy's fiance, and is both horrified and thrilled to discover that he feels the same way. As the wedding date draws near, events spiral out of control, and Rachel knows she must make a choice between her heart and conscience. In so doing, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself.

 

This new tie-in edition will coincide with the release of the film, starring Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin and John Krasinski.

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Amazon Exclusive: A Conversation Between Kristin Hannah and Emily Giffin

Emily Giffin (left) is the author of five New York Times bestselling novels, including Something Borrowed, which has been adapted as a major motion picture that will be in theaters in summer 2011. A graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of Virginia School of Law, she lives in Atlanta with her family.

Kristin Hannah (right) is the New York Times bestselling author of eighteen novels, including Winter Garden. She is a former lawyer turned writer and the mother of one son. She and her husband live in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii.

Kristin Hannah: Well, first, I have to say, Emily, that I am just the tiniest bit irritated with you. When I got the call to do this interview, I was thrilled, to say the least. It came at a really busy time for me--right after the holidays and we all know how crazy that is--and my work in progress was giving me fits. Then I picked up Heart of the Matter, and lost myself. No more writing, no more cooking, no getting my hair done or reading my email. Once I started the story I literally couldn't put it down. Brava, girlfriend, I say. Your characters are so real and compelling, and they always say exactly the right thing. With so much honest emotion, I just have to ask how much of your work comes from your own life?

Emily Giffin: It never fails to thrill me when someone responds to one of my novels--especially when it's another writer. Writers understand the alchemy involved in making up something from nothing. And I just finished your book, Night Road, and I found it so emotional, so moving, and so terrifying--especially since I have three young children who will someday be teenagers. In terms of how much does my work come from my own life, I would say that I'm absolutely inspired by people, places, conversations, relationships, and issues that I observe, and that the "what if" part of my novel is very much inspired by these things in my life. But the details of my plots and the specifics of my characters come from my own head. How about you, Kristin? I'll ask you the million-dollar question that every author gets asked: where do you get your ideas?

Kristin: Ah, the idea question. I don't want to sound coy, but the truth is, I don't quite know. It's the most magical part of the process for me. I'm a pretty analytical gal, and I approach writing in the same just-the-facts-ma'am way I approach most things. I need to find an issue that engages me on an intellectual level, and then I need to marry that curiosity with a kind of passion. I need to feel genuinely passionate about each story before I ever write a word, and I have to actually have something to say. It takes me at least a year to research and write a novel, and so I have to really adore each part of it--the characters, setting, story. Most of all, it has to make me feel something genuine. That's really the most important component. Usually it begins with a single "what if" question--what if you discovered your mother had a whole secret life about which you knew nothing (Winter Garden) or what if your husband were accused of a crime you believed he hadn't committed (True Colors)--and then I write and re-write until the characters seem as real to me as old friends.

Kristin: I'm amazed by how much we have in common. We're both moms, both lawyers, both lived in London for a time. You're like a younger, cooler version of me. How did you make the transition from lawyer to writer, and do you think you'll ever practice law again?

Emily: I would hardly say I'm cooler than you, Kristin! I hear you live in Hawaii part time! What is cooler than that? I made the transition from lawyer to writer because I was so miserable being a lawyer that I needed some escape from the day-to-day of it. And inventing stories was that escape. I can say, without hesitation, that I will never practice law again. Would you? What kind of law did you practice, and for how long? What did you find appealing (or discouraging) about law? Did you find that it gave you fodder for any of your novels?

Kristin: Honestly, I have met very few lawyers who don't say that what they really want to do is write. Like you, I can say with certainty that I will never practice law again. Not that anyone would want me to. But I still keep my Bar membership up...just in case this whole writing thing doesn't work out. And yes, in the past few years, I have finally begun to put some of that law school education to work for me. I find that I'm really enjoying adding legal issues to my work. Of course, I have to talk to real lawyers to make sure I'm getting it right...

Read more of the conversation between Emily Giffin and Kristin Hannah

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--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

An unexpected love affair threatens a long-lived friendship in this soap opera–like debut from Atlanta ex-lawyer Giffin. Since elementary school, Rachel and Darcy have been best friends, with Darcy always outshining Rachel. While single Rachel is the self-confessed good girl, an attorney trapped at a suffocating New York law firm, Darcy is the complete opposite, a stereotypical outgoing publicist, planning a wedding with the handsome Dex. After Rachel's 30th birthday party, she knocks back one drink too many and winds up in bed with Dex. Instead of feeling guilty about sleeping with her best friend's fiancé, Rachel realizes that Dex is the only man she's really loved, and that she's always resented manipulative Darcy. Rachel and Dex spend a few weekends in the city together "working" while Darcy's off with friends at a Hamptons beach share, but finally Rachel realizes she'll have to give Dex an ultimatum. The flip job Giffin pulls off—here it's the cheaters who're sympathetic (more or less)—gives Dex and Rachel's otherwise ordinary affair extra edge. Rachel would be a more appealing heroine if she were less whiny about her job and her romantic prospects, and rambling dialogue slows the story's pace, but this is an enjoyable beach read—one that'll make readers cast a suspicious eye on best friends and boyfriends who seem to get along just a little too well.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031232118X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312321185
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (926 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #516,251 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Emily Giffin is a graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of Virginia School of Law. After practicing litigation at a Manhattan firm for several years, she moved to London to write full time. The author of six New York Times bestselling novels, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Baby Proof, Love The One You're With, Heart of the Matter, and Where We Belong, she lives in Atlanta with her husband and three young children. Visit www.emilygiffin.com.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#59 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction

#83 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

#59 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction

#83 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

166 of 197 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!!! January 28, 2005

By Mercedes L. Johnmeyer TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

OK, I normally HATE chick-lit books, and that was what I was expecting when I picked this up, but actually, I loved it! I read all the reviews before starting this, and seeing as how everyone raved about it, I gave it a shot. So glad I did.

Rachel and Darcy have been best friends since their childhood in Indiana. Now they are both living in NYC and Rachel has just turned 30...and also just slept with Darcy's fiance. When I first started reading peoples reviews, I couldn't believe how they all rooted for Rachel and Dex...but after getting deeper and deeper into the book, I was doing the same thing! I actually grew to despise Darcy. She was so incredibly immature for a woman of 29 yrs. How Rachel managed to stay friends with her all that time was beyond me, but I loved the character of Rachel.

She's so down-to-earth, and I found myself saying a bunch of times, 'I know EXACTLY what she means!!', or, 'I've been there, and that's just what I was thinking to'. The ending was also really good. Half of it was a complete surprise, and I was very satisfied with the other half. I'm really looking forward to 'Something Blue' coming out this summer. Hopefully it will continue the saga of this very entertaining group of people. I definitely recommend!!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Will keep you guessing until the end May 25, 2005

By Tracy Vest TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Rachel is a bored attorney at a crossroads in her life. She is not happy with her job, has not had a significant romance in quite awhile, and her best friend Darcy (who has always been somewhat of a nemesis), is about to get married to her former classmate, Dex. After a drunken 30th birthday fiesta, Dex and Rachel sleep together.

Thinking it was just a one night stand, Rachel tries to pretend that it did not happen. But Dex won't let it rest and soon, they are in the throws of a passionate affair, stealing every moment they can to be together (including time at their Hamptons time-share), all the while assisting Darcy with planning her wedding.

It is hard at first to sympathize with what Rachel and Dex are doing, but since Darcy is not exactly the nicest gal (she even stole Rachel's first crush, Ethan, in the fifth grade), but soon the reader is caught up in the relationship and hoping it will turn out in the end. Rachel, who tends to be more of a doormat, is presented as the polar opposite of Darcy in both looks, drive, and personality, and her struggles with her guilt and fear of ruining her friendship with Darcy are drawn so well.

It is a rollicking trip through the past and present and Rachel tries to decide her future, with or without Dex and Darcy, and author Giffin keeps us guessing until the end. I particularly loved the pop culture from the 80's. I thought the end was a bit abrupt - not enough of a catfight and in a sense we were left guessing. Perhaps we will get some closure in the sequel, "Something Blue."

136 of 167 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful Ending March 19, 2009

By J. Bigornia

Format:Paperback

*SPOILERS*

I knew that I was getting into a book about disloyalty and infidelity when I decided to read it. However, I found the author trying to pass off Dexter as a romantic hero with Rachel and her friends gushing at how courageous he was when he broke off his engagement with the best friend of the girl he's sleeping with as an obvious misnomer and a little manipulative on the author's behalf. Because really, their reaction should have been "Finally!"

I know that cheating happens, and their immorality was not the problem I had with the book. However, let's just call things as they are. It's one thing for Rachel to think of Dex as courageous, but her level-headed friends realistically would have said "Thank goodness he came to his senses" rather than being impressed. I hate it when authors throw little things like that in to get the reader to still like and side with the main characters. I thought this book was supposed to be about there being a gray area.

But to make matters worse, in case the reader had any remorse for Darcy - Rachel's best friend of 25 years and Dexter's fiance - the author made sure to rid the guilt completely by having Darcy admit that not only is she also having an affair, but with Mark, Dexter's friend from college and Darcy's two-time substitute for when she needed someone to take Dexter off her mind. But because Darcy & Mark's affair happened a month into Dexter and Rachel's relationship, when they were already exchanging I Love Yous, the author decides that maybe she allowed too much gray area for the audience to still feel sorry for Darcy...after all, Darcy's affair happened around the time she felt insecure because Dexter had been distant and not having sex with her anymore. So just in case the readers turn on her, the author revealed that not only has Darcy been sleeping with Mark, but she's pregnant with his child!

I was a little offended that the author felt the need to go that far...and though some may say it was her need to please the audience, I felt like it was more her way of trying to fool us into siding with Rachel and Dexter. It would have been a much more interesting book if Darcy had found out the truth and Rachel just had to deal with the fact that she hurt her best friend. Despite all the built up jealousy and resentment Rachel has towards Darcy for always being self-centered and the prettier and more confident of the two, she still had no right to sleep with Darcy's fiance. I found the "Oh well! Darcy not only did what I did, but she's worse because she's pregnant!" ending sloppy and shallow. I especially hated that Rachel felt Darcy's infidelity was harsher because Rachel had only deceived Darcy...whereas Darcy deceived both Rachel and Dexter. Oh please! Rachel's nothing relationship with Mark is HARDLY comparable to the ten year relationship Darcy had with her fiance Dexter.

And to all the reviewers who said it's a realistic portrayal of infidelity are merely mistaken. If everyone who cheated with their best friend's fiance was "rewarded" with the fact that their best friend was doing the same and pregnant...well, then these same reviewers wouldn't have complimented the author's "great" twist ending.

By the way, was I the only one rooting for Rachel to be with Ethan? I found his sense of humor charming and his friendship with Rachel endearing. Dexter, on the other hand, I found positively boring. His descriptions were always surrounded by narrations of how he handsome he was. Are the readers supposed to be impressed by that? Oh well.