Review: Well written, heartfelt accounts
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 6, 2013
A book of hard truths for those of us who like to view our female friends as our biggest supporters. The older I get, the more I realize there are a lot of toxic women out there, and the saddest part is that so many of us not only tolerate the manipulative, self serving behavior, but actually defend it when others try to point it out. We'd rather believe our friend is really a good person, rather than admit we've been duped.Nearly all of the examples of women behaving badly that are given left me sadly nodding my head in recognition, though some were just horrifying. The women who pretend to adore you when they're only being nice (and even that's so they look good, not for any benefit of yours) are everywhere, but the personal, often painful stories broke my heart. One woman had just miscarried and wasn't able to attend a "friend's" party because of it. Rather than the slightest bit of sympathy or concern, the friend waited weeks to contact her and only then sent her a nasty letter full of selfish condemnation for not being a good enough friend to attend the party. The worst had to be about dealing with the death of a grandmother while a friend demanded she get her newly widow'ed mother to source ribbon for her impending wedding. When the grieving woman said no, rather than understanding, the "friend" went nuclear, deleting her from Facebook and shredding her character to any who would listen.I really couldn't put this down once I started to read it. I found it to be well written with important subject matter and the quality of the writing was excellent. It doesn't attack women, but it does bring to light much of the negative behavior so many engage in, in a way that even the staunchest defender of the supposed joys of sisterhood must acknowledge. It also helps the rest of us learn how to seek out the women who can become our true friends, and perhaps how to avoid engaging in some of these damaging behaviors ourselves.