Emily Nemens

Five friends, twenty years, one reunion trip. As undergrads at prestigious liberal arts college, Gregg, Reba, Hillary, Bella, and Carson formed the kind of rare bond that college brochures promise—friendship that lasts a lifetime. Two decades later, the women are spread across the country but remain firmly tethered through their ever-unfurling group chat. They’ve made it through COVID and childbirth and midcareer challenges, but no one can anticipate what’s coming down the pike.

The five women converge on Palm Springs for a long overdue reunion: Gregg, who has forged a path as a progressive Texas legislator, is facing a huge decision about her political future—does she run for higher office knowing the scrutiny and sacrifice? Reba, who moved back to the Bay Area after decades away, is deep in IVF treatments (failing repeatedly) while caring for her aging parents and navigating a San Francisco she hardly recognizes (tech bros everywhere, astronomical housing costs). Hillary’s medical career in Chicago is going great—but at home, her husband’s struggles with addiction have derailed their life, and she’s enabling him while pretending everything’s fine. In New York City, Bella faces the biggest case in her career as a litigator while her home life crumbles around her—she’s so caught up in winning she doesn’t see how much she’s drifted from her husband. And across the river in Brooklyn, Carson is working on a new novel as well as forging a possible relationship with the father she’s never met—reconciling with abandonment and family trauma. Twenty years into their shared friendship, the stakes are higher than ever, and they must help one another reconcile professional ambition with personal tumult.

The Plot/Key Appeal: Big, beautiful, deeply absorbing novel that asks how much space and heart we can give to our friends and families, and what space we can save for ourselves. Nemens’ second novel (after The Cactus League). Omniscient narrator alternates between five women’s POVs plus supporting characters, covering two decades year by year from college to present. Helpful character chart at beginning. Each chapter opens with line or two from their group chat or individual texts—this infrastructure moves timeline and plot brilliantly.

Cultural touchstones woven throughout: COVID, elections, Britney Spears updates, 2010s-2020s milestones. Writing is witty, incisive, razor-sharp. Characters are privileged (wealth plays major role—money repeatedly steps in when emotional support isn’t enough) but complex and real.

Explores: addiction, infertility, marriage, ambition, motherhood, aging parents, political career, creative work, female friendship as backbone of social lives. Compared to The Interestings (Meg Wolitzer), The Big Chill. Lynn Steger Strong called it “sharp, funny, utterly engrossing.” LA Times: “White Lotus with more sincerity and heart.”

Why It’s Trending:

• Released February 3, 2026 (yesterday!).


• Named Best Book by NYT Book Review, LA Times, Alta Journal.


• NPR: “one of my most anticipated novels of the year.”


• Library Journal Best Book 2025.


• Former Paris Review editor (Nemens led the magazine).

For fans of: The Interestings, Big Little Lies, female friendship novels, literary fiction, ensemble casts, books spanning decades, ambitious women navigating midlife.

Book clubs will love: discussions about privilege, friendship vs. family, how we support each other, sacrifices for ambition, fertility struggles, addiction, political ambition, wealth disparities. Warning: some readers find characters unlikeable/entitled; animal cruelty scene (turns out okay); heavy use of metaphor and pluperfect tense. But many call it exquisite, superbly crafted.