top of page
Writer's pictureThe Bossy Bookworm

Review of You Have a Friend in 10A by Maggie Shipstead

Shipstead's varied stories range from funny with an edge to darkly haunting. She builds her characters with vivid detail, and she serves up the brutal truth alongside vulnerability in this fascinating collection.

In You Have a Friend in 10A, Maggie Shipstead offers gripping, sometimes haunting, sometimes darkly funny short stories, diving into eclectic and vivid settings ranging from an Olympic village, to a deathbed in Paris, to a Pacific atoll, to an abandoned mountaintop.

The tones of each captivating story vary wildly, whether lighthearted with an edge or tragic and dark.

Throughout each disparate story, Shipstead's eye for detail and for illustrating pivotal small moments allows her to explore the lives of a cast of vivid characters and make them feel fully formed.

I received a prepublication digital edition of this book courtesy of Knopf and NetGalley.

Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book?

Maggie Shipstead is also the author of Astonish Me, Seating Arrangements, and Great Circle, one of my favorite reads last year.

If you like short stories, you might like the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Short Story Collections to Wow You.

Comments


bottom of page