The Gospel According To Drew Barrymore

Sometimes I pick up a book because I like the title. Sometimes it's because I love the author. Sometimes the book's been recommended to me and sometimes, it's just because the cover art is cute. That was, I have to admit, a heavily weighted reason I picked up The Gospel According to Drew Barrymore. Written by Pippa Wright, it's a pretty fun read. It follows the friendship of Esther and Laura who, over the years and the many dramas that arise in between, rely on Drew Barrymore to get them through. Despite the very public problems the real Drew Barrymore suffered (all of which still completely sadden me) it is the fact that she survived and then thrived that Esther and Laura use as their life propellers. If Drew can get through, so can you. New motto, anyone?

I liked that this was a book about female friendship. It felt like real friendship, that had mini ups and downs and periods of non-contact because sometimes life happens, it gets in the way. It also explored what I feel are very valid worries that if you met today, as you are now, would you still become friends? How does friendship survive when so many other factors require you to change. That was one of the saddest admissions in the book; when Esther openly admits that Laura's no longer the front and centre force in her life. With Esther having a husband and a baby, her priorities have shifted. But when two friends are on different life journeys, how do you adjust to no longer having the support you've always relied on? That's mostly Laura's problem, I feel. She has relied on Esther for most of her life. That's neither a wholly good or wholly bad thing. But when Esther becomes, for want of a better word, unavailable, Laura is left to make more bad decisions. Not to spoil the book, but she makes more than a few. 

The book splits between the present, which is around late autumn in 2013, and the past. The chapters from the past usually start with a Drew related quote, which is a fun little insert. And quite necessary really, considering the book's title. Starting with the moment the two became friends all the way through gross adolescent parties and uncomfortable career decisions. Esther, unkindly nicknamed Fat Fester at school, suffered terribly from self esteem issues, always comparing herself to the slimmer, cooler Laura. There's a simmer of resentment that I feel can often be present between girls, that comes and goes but is rarely completely unavoidable. Wright really writes women well I think (well, with the exception of Sophie, Esther's younger sister. I get she isn't really part of the story at all, but still, I don't know why she was introduced at all since she never really felt 3D to me). With the chapters in the present coming from Esther's first person perspective, we to see a whole spectrum of emotions that makes Esther feel very relatable. With Laura, we see her mostly through Esther's eyes, at least in the present, making her seem detached almost. Which she is, considering Esther finds herself leaving her baby at home to fly out to San Francisco, all to try and find an absconded Laura. Part of me really liked the way Esther was written as struggling to leave her new baby, one she had tried unsuccessfully to have for years. but part of me also felt she was a little too ready to blame Laura for all the new mother guilt she was buckling under. I think if we had read in prose, about Esther's succession of miscarriages, then maybe I would have felt differently. I found the email interchange, whilst very topical, to be a bit jarring. I loved Wright's prose and raced through all the other chapters but the series of emails diluted the end of the novel for me. It felt a little like Esther suffered a lot in her younger years but then found a guy she really liked, had a son she loves more than anything and has a job she's passionate about. In other words, she suffered but came out successful, like the opposite of divine retribution. But perhaps I'm being too critical of a character who does, let's be honest, have a lot on her plate. Not as much as Laura, but really, should we compare? Pain is pain, fear is fear. How you experience it is sometimes entirely unique. 

The end of the book is cute. Almost predictable but it also feels like a full circle has been drawn in the sand. I did actually enjoy it a lot; it was an easy read because the characters felt complex and of this time, too. Emails, Facetiming, everything that friends do now. And of course using a celebrity to somehow pave the way forward. I, for one, am definitely guilty of that. So if  you like books about the influence of famous people and, more importantly, books about the complexities of female friendship, give The Gospel According to Drew Barrymore a go.