Welcome to Litsy!

With her critically acclaimed debut novel, Still Life with Husband, Lauren Fox established herself as a wise and achingly funny chronicler of domestic life and was hailed as �a delightful new voice in American fiction, a voice that instantly recalls the wry, knowing prose of Lorrie Moore� (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times). Fox�s new novel glitters with these pleasures�fearless wordplay, humor, and nuance�and asks us the question at the heart of every friendship: What would you give up for a friend�s happiness? For Willa Jacobs, seeing her best friend, Jane Weston, is like looking in a mirror on a really good day. Strangers assume they are sisters, a comparison Willa secretly enjoys. They share an apartment, clothing, and groceries, eking out rent with part-time jobs. Willa writes advertising copy, dreaming up inspirational messages for tea bags (�The path to enlightenment is steep� and �Oolong! Farewell!�), while Jane cleans houses and writes poetry about it, rhyming �dust� with �lust,� and �clog of hair� with �fog of despair.� Together Willa and Jane are a fortress of private jokes and shared opinions, with a friendship so close there�s hardly room for anyone else. But when Ben, Willa�s oldest friend, reappears and falls in love with Jane, Willa wonders: Can she let her two best friends find happiness with each other if it means leaving her behind?