Book Review: You Have a Friend in 10A by Maggie Shipstead

My Rating: 

3.5⭐

“You Have a Friend in 10A” by Maggie Shipstead is a collection of ten very well-written, thought-provoking short stories.

In The Cowboy Tango, the story revolves around the complicated love triangle between the owner of a dude ranch in Montana, his female employee and his nephew. In Acknowledgements, a writer, on the cusp of the publication of his first book, sits and reflects over his experiences with writing beginning from his childhood school assignment to the unpleasant experiences he had while as a student in a writers’ program. Souterrain takes us to Paris where a man’s questions over his paternity lead to an unfortunate outcome. In Angel Lust, a successful studio executive unpacks more than he could have imagined while sorting through his late father’s belongings. In La Moretta, we meet a newly married couple on their honeymoon in Europe, a trip that does not go as planned. In the Olympic Village, two athletes indulge in a one–night stand. In the title story, You Have a Friend in 10A, a former actress on a flight reflects on her experiences with a cult-like Church and her broken marriage to a high-profile celebrity who was a member of the same. We meet a group of people on an artists’ retreat in Ireland in Lambs who witness a flock of sheep being transported for slaughter, which inspires the reflections on life and mortality.The Great Central Pacific Guano Company takes us to an island where a group of workers is stationed with their families working for a guano company while fighting the isolation, disease and discord that prevails. Backcountry focusses on a woman now married to a philandering husband reflecting on her past relationship with a married man.

I have admired Maggie Shipstead’s writing ever since I read Great Circle which was a favorite of mine last year. The ten short stories in "You Have a Friend in 10A” are wide in scope and varied in subject matter. The stories are introspective and immersive and the characters are complex and flawed, and thus very real, even if a few of them are not particularly likable. Overall, this was an interesting read and as with most short story collections, this is a mixed bag and though you may not like all the stories a few will stand out for you. My personal favorites were “The Cowboy Tango”, “Souterrain”, "La Moretta” and “You Have a Friend in 10A”.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for a digital review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.