Synopses & Reviews
The smash-hit debut novel for every woman who has ever had a complicated love-hate friendship. Rachel White is the consummate good girl. A hard-working attorney at a large Manhattan law firm and a diligent maid of honor to her charmed best friend Darcy, Rachel has always played by all the rules. Since grade school, she has watched Darcy shine, quietly accepting the sidekick role in their lopsided friendship. But that suddenly changes the night of her thirtieth birthday when Rachel finally confesses her feelings to Darcy's fiance, and is both horrified and thrilled to discover that he feels the same way. As the wedding date draws near, events spiral out of control, and Rachel knows she must make a choice between her heart and conscience. In so doing, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself.
Review
"Emily Giffin brings a fresh, new voice to women's fiction. Something Borrowed is a deftly written and convincing tale of a friendship gone comically and at times poignantly awry." Meg Cabot, author of The Boy Next Door and The Princess Diaries
Review
"Something Borrowed is a winner; it has rare emotional depth. In Something Borrowed, Rachel, a perpetually self-sacrificing nice girl, shocks herself by launching an affair with her best friend's fiancé. This first blow for freedom sets off a chain reaction that will inspire pathologically nice girls everywhere to strike blows of their own." Valerie Frankel, author of The Accidental Virgin
Review
"Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin is a luxurious page-turner of a debut novel that marks the arrival of a tremendously bright, clever new voice in women's fiction. In quick-moving, captivating prose punctuated with dead-on dialogue, Giffin deftly captures the complications and humor of love, betrayal, career, and friendship for a city girl at the edge of thirty; you forget this is just a novel and won't want to put it down." Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, author of The Dirty Girls Social Club and Playing with Boys
Review
"I absolutely loved it and read it in two sittings because I could not put it down. It was amazing to me how Emily handled this complex moral issue with such compassion and clear-sightedness. I believed it all the way and forgot about the rest of my life while I was immersed in it. Her three main characters are portrayed as multifaceted and endearingly flawed just like real human beings. Something Borrowed is also very well written nice, spare prose, which kept me pressing forward, agog to know what happened. This is a book which takes a clear-eyed look at the rivalry that exists in even the best of friendships. Congratulations to Emily on having written such a compelling, engrossing, and uplifting book." Marian Keyes, author of Sushi for Beginners
Review
"A surprise twist at the end seamlessly wraps up this fast-paced, enjoyable read." Library Journal
Synopsis
Something Borrowed
Emily Giffin
The smash-hit debut novel for every woman who has ever had a complicated love-hate friendship.
Rachel White is the consummate good girl. A hard-working attorney at a large Manhattan law firm and a diligent maid of honor to her charmed best friend Darcy, Rachel has always played by all the rules. Since grade school, she has watched Darcy shine, quietly accepting the sidekick role in their lopsided friendship. But that suddenly changes the night of her thirtieth birthday when Rachel finally confesses her feelings to Darcy's fiance, and is both horrified and thrilled to discover that he feels the same way. As the wedding date draws near, events spiral out of control, and Rachel knows she must make a choice between her heart and conscience. In so doing, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself.
Synopsis
Something Borrowed is the smash-hit debut novel from Emily Giffin for every woman who has ever had a complicated love-hate friendship. The basis for the blockbuster movie starring Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin, and John Krasinski
Rachel White is the consummate good girl. A hard-working attorney at a large Manhattan law firm and a diligent maid of honor to her charmed best friend Darcy, Rachel has always played by all the rules. Since grade school, she has watched Darcy shine, quietly accepting the sidekick role in their lopsided friendship. But that suddenly changes the night of her thirtieth birthday when Rachel finally confesses her feelings to Darcy's fiance, and is both horrified and thrilled to discover that he feels the same way.
As the wedding date draws near, events spiral out of control, and Rachel knows she must make a choice between her heart and conscience. In so doing, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself.
Synopsis
Something Borrowed tells the story of Rachel, a young attorney living and working in Manhattan. Rachel has always been the consummate good girl until her thirtieth birthday, when her best friend, Darcy, throws her a party. That night, after too many drinks, Rachel ends up in bed with Darcy's fiancé. Although she wakes up determined to put the one-night fling behind her, Rachel is horrified to discover that she has genuine feelings for the one guy she should run from. As the September wedding date nears, Rachel knows she has to make a choice. In doing so, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk all to win true happiness. Something Borrowed is a phenomenal debut novel that will have you laughing, crying, and calling your best friend.
Synopsis
"Compelling, engrossing -- I absolutely loved this book and read it in two sittings because I could not put it down."
- Marian Keyes, author of Sushi for Beginners
"A luxurious page-turner...that marks the arrival of a tremendously bright, clever new voice."
- Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, author of The Dirty Girls Social Club
"A deftly written and convincing tale of friendship gone comically -- at at times poignantly -- awry."
- Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries
"A winner; it has rare emotional depth."
- Valerie Frankel, author of The Accidental Virgin
About the Author
Emily Giffin is a graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of Virginia School of Law. After practicing litigation at a Manhattan firm for several years, she moved to London to write full time. The author of four New York Times bestselling novels, she now lives in Atlanta with her husband and three young children. Visit www.emilygiffin.com.
Reading Group Guide
1. What do you think was the real impetus behind Rachels decision to sleep with Dex after her birthday party? Was it about her desire to break out of her good girl persona? Was it about a long-standing resentment toward Darcy? Or was it both?
2. How do you view Dex? How would you describe Dex and Rachels relationship? What drew them together? Did you root for them to be together? Do you think they have true love?
3. Is anything about Rachel and Darcys friendship genuine? Do you believe it has changed over time? Why does Rachel defend Darcy against attacks from Ethan and Hillary? Compare and contrast Rachels friendship with Hillary and Ethan to her friendship with Darcy.
4. Do you think Dex and Darcy would have married if it werent for Dexs affair with Rachel? Why did he stay with Darcy for so long?
5. How did Rachels flawed self-image contribute to the dilemma that she faces? What do you see as her greatest weakness?
6. Was Rachels moral dilemma made easier because of Darcys personality? Would she have acted on her attraction to Dex if Darcy were a different kind of person and friend? If Rachel had fallen in love with Julian, would she have pursued the same course of action? How does Rachel rationalize her affair with Dex?
7. What risks does Rachel take when she pursues her relationship with Dex? What is the biggest moment of risk for her? How does Rachel grow and change in the novel?
8. Disloyalty is a major theme in this novel. How differently do men and women view cheating on a friend? Why is Darcy so indignant when she catches Dex and Rachel together when she has been having an affair of her own?
9. Under what circumstances is it justified to choose love over friendship? How important is it for women to stick together? Have you ever been in a friendship like Darcy and Rachels?
10. This novel is told from Rachels perspective. How do you think Darcy would tell the same story? How do you think she would describe Rachel? How do you think she views their friendship?