Commencement

Commencement
By J. Courtney Sullivan (416 pages)
Published by Vintage
Bookish rating: 4

As I was reading Commencement, I enjoyed it but didn't really think it was anything too special. But a day or two or three after finishing it, I realized the novel kept creeping back into my consciousness. And with that? A bit of sadness that the book was, as Lorelei would say, "all done!"

Commencement chronicles four college friends at all-girls Smith who meet each other on that fateful first day of college. As someone who met some of my most beloved girlfriend on the day I moved into my dorm, I could identify with this. In fact, I identified with a lot of this novel. That made the reading extra fun.

Intelligently, Commencement doesn't end at graduation. Commencement is, as the book's title suggests, both beginning and end. Thus, graduation occurs right smack in the middle of the novel.  Aside from the girls (ahem, women) being a smidge too successful a smidge too young for believability (though I suppose they did go to Smith, right?), I liked their growth and change as they got older and maneuvered through their twenties.

This is my second Sullivan novel (I've read Maine), and as much as I've enjoyed both books, I do tire of feeling like I'm always reading backstory . . . .when I'm actually reading THE story. And that just seems to be Sullivan's style. I don't see a way around it--she has to cover an immense amount of time from four points of view--but something about it just lacks the smoothness of, say, Elizabeth Strout. Whom we all know I adore.

Overall, recommended to every female who graduated from college between 2000 and 2007 (because once the recession hit, all bets were off). And every one of my B-Y girls needs to read this baby.