The Favor- Adele Griffin (audiobook)
Genre: Contemporary Adult Fiction

What an interesting and at times suspenseful look at adult friendship - in The Favor Adele Griffin (with Kristen Sieh as our narrator) takes us on a complex journey with Nora and Evelyn from the moment they meet in I’ll Have Seconds - a vintage retail store. Nora, who works there, finds just what Evelyn is looking for and more so it seems a friendship is born. The friendship immediately became awkward for me when Evelyn talks Nora into selling her some vintage books with an offer she can’t refuse. Here was a woman accustomed to getting what she wanted and a woman who was just a bit starstruck giving in. I was slightly uncomfortable with this dynamic throughout the novel (and to be fair to this reader, Nora’s husband is too). The women stay in touch, often in the form of Evelyn needing Nora’s help as a stylist and a personal assistant - often intruding into Nora’s personal life.

We learn that Nora and her husband are in significant debt largely due to their infertility journey. They are just keeping finances under control and have just one embryo left on which their hopes for a family of their dreams rest. The tension in their city apartment is palpable. When Evelyn offers to be a surrogate - at a really good financial deal, it almost feels too good to be true.

And that is where Griffin excels for me. I was on edge the entire time I was listening. Is Evelyn for real? Would Nora’s marriage survive the friendship? Would Evelyn carry the baby to term and let her go? Griffin does an excellent job of creating and maintaining these tensions. I also appreciated her look at the “influencer” lifestyle and exploring its impact on Evelyn’s pregnancy and Nora’s experience. This culture has become so prevalent, and I’m not sure we always think through the consequences of it for creators and for consumers. And, as with the relationships, Griffin doesn’t offer easy solutions here either. She doesn’t provide an easy answer. Neither does she resolve the friendship issues that ultimately develop between Nora and Evelyn easily. Nora’s struggle becomes the reader’s struggle, and again I was 100% engaged the entire time. The ending (spoiler free) does provide a twist, and not the one I expected.