Book Review: The Privileged

“They all drank, often too much, and took drugs, because sometimes it was easier to be drunk or high than to be uncertain, hopeful, horny.”

Stella. Laura. Amanda. Friends since their teens and an all-too-familiar incident at a South Dublin disco, they’re now verging on their thirties and about to be reunited: Amanda’s in crisis once again. While Stella and Laura are comfortable, middle class, working hard at their jobs, Amanda lives in a world of privilege that has been a gateway for them since their adolescence – and has been able to fund a drug problem that has haunted her since then.

While it’s refreshing to see a focus on female friendships, the modern-day quest to find out what’s going on with Amanda isn’t quite strong enough to work as a framing device for all the background between these three women, and Amanda’s charisma is never quite compelling enough to justify their fondness for her. There are plenty of Amandas out there, butterflies who charm caterpillars, but she is not as vivid on the page as she should be. Still, it’s an interesting read and Laura’s role as a journalist weighing up ethics versus friendship is particularly intriguing.