Who Your Friends Are

In the 1950s, two little working-class girls, Pat and Rita, become best friends. ‘Who Your Friends Are’ is about Pat’s friendship with Rita and her sisters as they grow into their very different lives. Rita is ambitious, becomes a model, marries a rock drummer. Pat follows Rita’s career with interest but without envy. She herself follows a conventional route through marriage, children, a job in a caring profession, and always believing in the enduring quality of their friendship.

Now Pat finds herself without a job, with her children all grown up and time on her hands. Her past history with Rita and her sisters is due for a reassessment – what will she make of it?

It is a story about friendship, loyalty and the everyday life (often mundane, sometimes exciting, at times tacky) of ordinary people who have grown up after World War ll. Susan’s writing brings to life the era of post-war change, with its thrills and disappointments.

Pat’s mid-life reflections point up sharply the poignancy of looking back, alongside the very different experiences of her present day world and its troubles. 

Susan Day’s style is economical and understated, but the book gives us a vivid insight into the needs and dramas of everyday life, and the emotions and tensions in Pat and Rita’s families. The characters are rounded and believable, and the lively and eventful story carries the reader along to the end.