Becky's Great Book Reviews Young Fools by Liza Palmer

Young Fools by Liza Palmer entertainingly explores the literary world over a span of thirty years. Funny and astute, this novel lays out an erudite hierarchy that only one on the inside could know about. Thank you, Liza Palmer!

Two young women meet at a writing conference. Prickly Helen Hicks has never had a friend before. Cherry Stewart is there on a scholarship, being the only attendee who has no college or advanced degree. Easy and open, Cherry befriends Helen who feels grateful for the friendship. However, Helen feels threatened by Cherry's easy writing ability and Helen's fierce intelligence makes it all too easy to sabotage Cherry.

The story follows the women in ten-year increments; we see their bookish successes and failures unfold. But alas, things are not as they seem and Liza Palmer bends the genre of women's fiction by adding a twist that this reader never saw coming.

Palmer's character development steals the show. She elicits sympathy for Helen's character through her crippling self-esteem (she thinks of herself as an "off-putting loner") while at the same time giving her an arrogance that is indeed off-putting. While we witness Helen needing external validation for all things, loveable Cherry experiences success beyond her poor-kid beginning's wildest dreams.

In a novel that explores envy versus jealousy as well as imposter syndrome, the two women's experiences and friendship evolve to the delight of the reader. Young Fools explores human vulnerability with great humor and intelligence, making this novel about the bookish world wildly enjoyable as well as touching. I give Liza Palmer's most recent book four and a half stars out of five.