LoveReading Says
Taut, suspenseful and wryly amusing, Ore Agbaje-Williams’ The Three of Us makes fine use of a closed domestic setting, with three narratives unfolding with escalating tension over the course of a day.
As for that setting, readers are effectively offered a fourth place at the table for three, something like being an unseen voyeur, afforded an intimate perspective on fractious dynamics between a wife, her husband, and her best friend. The wife, whose narrative opens this novel-in-three-parts, appears to live a charmed live. She’s well-educated, with a wealthy husband who works hard and provides for her, and an intensely loyal best friend, Temi. And yet while they both love her, they can’t stand each other, as revealed one afternoon when Temi comes to the couple’s home to hang out and drink lots of wine.
The friend and husband have vastly different ideas about who the wife really is and compete to be the one who knows her best. They’re also diametrically different in every which way - while Temi is “the very creator of chaos and destruction”, the husband demands order and control.
Alongside such glaring conflicts and differences between husband and friend, there are gaps between husband and wife — while he’s set on having children as soon as possible, believing “you’d be a great mother”, she’s not sure she really wants to be a mother. Then there’s the dissonance between self-perception, reality, and the perception of others.
As the trio’s unravelling escalates in the wake of revelations, so too does the humour and insights into human nature.
Joanne Owen
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The Three of Us Synopsis
Wife. Husband. Best friend. What if your two favourite people hated each other with a passion?
SELECTED AS A BOOK OF 2023 BY THE SUNDAY TIMES, STYLIST AND I-D
A nice house, a carefree life, a doting husband, a best friend who never leaves your side. What more could you ask for? There's just one problem: your husband and best friend love you, but they hate each other.
Set over a single day, husband, wife and best friend Temi toe the lines of compromise and betrayal. Told in three parts, three people's lives, and their visions of themselves and one another begin to slowly unravel, until a startling discovery throws everyone's integrity into question.
Full of intrigue, idiosyncratic wit and a healthy dose of wealth and snobbery The Three of Us is part-suburban millennial comedy of manners and part-domestic noir that will leave you wondering: whose side are you on?
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781787334083 |
| Publication date: |
11th May 2023 |
| Author: |
Ore Agbaje-Williams |
| Publisher: |
Jonathan Cape Ltd an imprint of Vintage Publishing |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
208 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Family Drama
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Ore Agbaje-Williams Press Reviews
Deftly plotted and wickedly enjoyable. -- Naoise Dolan, author of EXCITING TIMES
Unique and completely captivating, The Three of Us absorbed me. When I finished I wanted to go back and read it from the beginning again. -- Annie Lord, author of NOTES ON HEARTBREAK
A treat of a debut. Agbaje-Williams has a gift of gliding between the sharpest driest humour and damning emotional revelations that incisively exposes the vulnerabilities, fallacies and messiness that line the relationships with those we are closest to. Dazzling, dextrous and droll, this millennial noir is a taut exploration of culture and the politics of relationships. -- Bolu Babalola, author of LOVE IN COLOUR
Ore Agbaje-Williams has that elusive Sally Rooney style of writing: it seems simple and easy to do but is incredibly difficult to pull off. And so a tale of one woman, her best friend and her husband unfolds. The only problem? Said best friend and husband hate each other. Enjoy. - Stylist
An astute, composed and quietly hilarious observation of identity, marriage and friendship from a unique storyteller. -- Diana Evans, author of Ordinary People
The Three of Us is a cunning (and often very funny) book, a wily and promising debut. -- Rumaan Alam, author of LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND
Sharp, astute and wickedly funny - Ore Agbaje-Williams' sharp wit and perfectly realised protagonists make for a taut, darkly comic read that packs a serious punch. -- Yomi Adegoke, author of Slay in Your Lane and The List
Explosive ... What rocked me was the naked examination of that coveted construct we call innocence ... The Three of Us read, wrote, and erased me. Then, it gave me back to myself, giggling and nodding my head. What a keen mind this story comes from. What a calm power this story holds. -- Robert Jones, Jr., author of THE PROPHETS
A sharp, humorous, superbly entertaining novel exploring Black love and relationships and the conflicts and tensions that arise from jealousy, desire, control, and cultural expectations... Insightful and impressive. -- Jacqueline Crooks, author of FIRE RUSH
[A] striking, often wickedly funny debut... Agbaje-Williams brilliantly captures the inner monologue as well as the conversational style of each of the three through which their whole cultural milieu takes shape around them... An original and potent comedy of manners with an ingenious final twist. - Kirkus,Starred Review*
Devouring this bold, brilliant satire was refreshing and confronting and completely entertaining. So much is achieved in Agbaje-Williams' writing: the nuances that make even our closest relationships uncomfortable, the tension of a shifting perspective, the anarchy provoked by a single cunning comment. Beguiling and cutting and admirable - I loved it. -- Ashley Audrain, New York Times bestselling author of THE PUSH
[A] unique novel... [with a] clever premise and definitely one that will provoke a lot of discussion. - Red,Books to Look Out For 2023*
I'm obsessed. This is a masterful, at times familiar and relatable, yet ultimately disturbing portrayal of a friendship. Constantly surprising, often dark and at times sinister, it is without fail always entertaining and funny. -- Claire Kohda, author of WOMAN, EATING
Funny, fresh and full of drama, not a word goes to waste in this extraordinary debut. -- Sophie Irwin, author of A LADY'S GUIDE TO FORTUNE-HUNTING
Both wickedly entertaining and thought-provoking. I couldn't stop turning the page! -- Lizzie Damilola Blackburn, author of YINKA, WHERE IS YOUR HUZBAND?
A witty comedy of manners about a wife, a husband and a best friend. Relationships fracture over the course of a single day as ambition, wealth and integrity are weaponized for personal gain. - i-D, Books to be Excited for in 2023
Told in three parts, each voice as compelling as the next, three people's lives... If you didn't know already - we can't wait for this one. - Platinum,Books to Look Out For 2023*
