BOOK: The Emperor's Children - Claire Messud

Title: The Emperor's Children
Author: Claire Messud
Genre: novel
Publisher: Picador (2006)
Pages: 581
Language: English
Rating: 7/10
Summary: Three thirty year old friends who have gotten used to hang with each other, find themselves in new relationships that take them all in different directions. They are forced to confront their desires and expectations, because getting involved with other people not only affects their own lives, it also changes their friendships.

Spoilerfree review
This book was introduced to me with "It's about two women and a gay guy", to which I replied "And what about the sexual preference of the women? Is it relevant that the guy is gay?". In case you were wondering: the women are straight and as I suspected, it is irrelevant to the story.
It's a book about friendships and love and what you are willing to give up to settle in a 'romantic' relationship. I don't think it matters what gender you are when it comes to struggling with those human issues.

Socialite Marina is desperate to step out of the shadow of her father, who is a well known journalist, but she doesn't seem to understand the concept of work. Her best friend Danielle has a job that takes up all her time and finds it hard to step beyond her comfort-zone. Julius pretends to be more succesful than he really is and never tells either of his friends he has to take on temp-jobs to pay the rent.

For those of you who know me, it's obvious I identified with Danielle, since her profile seems a lot like mine. For a while I did go along with her and I could indeed relate to her point of view of the world. I recognized how she had decorated her home and life.
But apparently growing up means eventually you will have the need to find a mate and you are willing to do whatever it takes to hold on to whomever you catch, no matter your personality. Huh.
There are no really big dramas or adventures here and although it was interesting to follow the thoughtprocess of all these different people I didn't really understand the point of the book.
Maybe that's because I have the emotional content of a teaspoon. I did enjoy the book and its colourful language, but the story left me feeling disappointed in people all over again. Why would I want to be with one of those creatures?