"This smart dissection of the current Age of Distraction is a well-observed, thought-provoking, character-driven debut."
Written by the co-creator of TV hit How I Met Your Mother, Carter Bay’s The Mutual Friend is an original, thought-provoking debut that captures the complex webs of modern living and loving with heart, humour and a whole lot of meaningful observations.
Behind the huge cast of characters is a backdrop of two lived worlds – one physical, the other lived through phone screens, and this sets the stage for a multi-layered story that plays out against this duality of modern life – the Age of Distraction.
It’s the summer of 2015 in New York, and 28-year-old Alice is determined to finally make something of her life. After enrolling to take the MCAT exam that’ll set her on a path to becoming a doctor, she resolves to accept no distractions. But the problem is, everything is a distraction, not least her unruly new roommate and the possibility of love.
Meanwhile, Alice’s hugely wealthy brother is setting out on a spiritual journey, with the narrative perspective jumping back and forth many times over. Indeed, one of this novel’s defining characteristics - and triumphs - is how it skips points of view. While this is a little disorienting to begin with, it’s not long before this structure feels right.
Characters pop on and off the page as they do in life, with deep, idiosyncratic human connections revealed alongside satirical commentary on what it means to live online, and through social media. Moreover, this structure also cleverly exposes and subverts its subject matter through jumpy distractions that demand attention.
'The Mutual Friend is GREAT. Carter Bays always finds the heart and truth in all of his humour. I just loved it. Put down the phones. Unless you're reading The Mutual Friend on it' Jason Segel 'I love this love story! The dialogue is so good, also it's very funny. What more could I want?' Mindy Kaling New York, 2015. In a city of more than 8 million people, there are always new places to visit, new connections to be made, new experiences to be shared.But not for Alice Quick. Determined to finally take her MCAT exam and become a doctor, this has to be a summer of no distractions. So it's a shame that her chaotic roommate Roxy is persistently getting her into trouble, not the most convenient timing for her millionaire brother Bill to decide to embark upon a spiritual search for the meaning of life and plain inconvenient that Alice just can't seem to put down her phone. And then there's the biggest distraction of all, threatening to permanently derail all of her plans: love.Filled with warmth, humour, and heart, THE MUTUAL FRIEND is an unforgettable debut novel that perfectly captures the choreography of navigating life and love amidst the chaos of contemporary life.
| Primary Genre | Romance / Relationship Stories |
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'The Mutual Friend is GREAT. Carter Bays always finds the heart and truth in all of his humour.
The Mutual Friend features in the following genres: Debuts, Family Drama, Humorous Fiction, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Contemporary lifestyle fiction, Modern and Contemporary romance, Romance / Relationship Stories, Fiction, Recommendations, General Fiction
Paperback, Hardback. £8.99, down from the £9.99 cover price. In Stock.
The Mutual Friend was written by Carter Bays and published by Hodder an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton
The Mutual Friend has 480 pages
£8.99, reduced from £9.99. In Stock.
