One late wine- and gossip-fueled night, four friends on a lark create a fateful test of friendship -- one that challenges the very principles and boundaries of their alliance. To pass it means to never, at any cost, betray one another. Twenty years later, they must face that ultimate test.

We meet them at the dawn of their camaraderie in the 1980s and already each woman is distinguished from the other: Tamsin, the compassionate mother hen; Reagan, the brazen and clever overachiever; Sarah, the seemingly perfect beauty; and Freddie, who despite being far from her U.S. home, finds strength in her friends. We forward to today, and as promised they are still firm friends . . . that is until a crisis occurs and the principles that define their friendship test are challenged. Exquisitely rendered by Elizabeth Noble, The Friendship Test is a powerful testament to the depth and capacity of female relationships.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

One late wine- and gossip-fueled night, four friends on a lark create a fateful test of friendship -- one that challenges the very principles and boundaries of their alliance. To pass it means to never, at any cost, betray one another. Twenty years later, they must face that ultimate test.

We meet them at the dawn of their camaraderie in the 1980s and already each woman is distinguished from the other: Tamsin, the compassionate mother hen; Reagan, the brazen and clever overachiever; Sarah, the seemingly perfect beauty; and Freddie, who despite being far from her U.S. home, finds strength in her friends. We forward to today, and as promised they are still firm friends . . . that is until a crisis occurs and the principles that define their friendship test are challenged. Exquisitely rendered by Elizabeth Noble, The Friendship Test is a powerful testament to the depth and capacity of female relationships.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Noble (The Reading Group) spins another compulsively readable yarn, guided by the cozily familiar conceit of lifelong friendship taking root among vastly different gals. This fab four, deftly rendered with a few pen strokes as distinct personalities-brassy American Freddie; doting, maternal Tasmin; beautiful, sensitive Sarah; and scholarly, serious Reagan-meet in Oxford in the '80s and nurse each other through heartache and calamity with soul-baring dish sessions and fervent avowals of friendship, calling themselves the Tenko Club. The divergent threads of their adult lives are destined to knot again in 2004, after Freddie suffers a double blow with her husband's affair and her estranged father's death. Her oldest friends rally to her cause, each in her own way-from caustic honesty to fierce protectiveness-though bouts of tragedy and betrayal threaten to unravel their bonds. The action spans England and America, with a sprawling, twisty plot that will appeal to readers in both places. Noble's tender wit depicts the love among friends as steadfast and magical as any romance. Breezy and heartwarming, the novel's beach-book disposition also makes for a cozy winter read. Agent, Stephanie Cabot. (Jan.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Twenty years ago, four girlfriends formed the Tenko Club, and after all this time the club is still intact-that is, until particular challenges set in motion one autumn pull at their bond in ways none of them could have fathomed as teenagers. Mother hen Tamsin rallies support for Freddie, whose husband is having an affair, while prickly Reagan, always feeling like an outsider, decides to take matters into her own hands when the object of her decades-long affection, their beloved Sarah's widower, makes a play for Freddie. While not as strong as Noble's debut, The Reading Group, this second novel is a worthy addition to the ranks of popular fiction. Noble lays bare the friends' innermost insecurities and passions with care and compassion. The crises are disproportionately borne by Freddie and Reagan, and the characters sometimes feel too "boxed in": Reagan's dysfunctional, Freddie's beautiful, Tamsin's maternal, and Sarah's a saint. Nonetheless, this novel, already released in the United Kingdom as The Tenko Club, is an emotionally charged work sure to please most fans of women's fiction. Suitable for all public libraries.-Amy Brozio-Andrews, Albany P.L., NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Freddie, Tamsin, Sarah, and Reagan met at Oxford and quickly forged a bond that continued through careers, marriages, and children. Fast-forward 18 years to the day that Freddie gets a double whammy: her husband tells her that he is seeing someone else and wants a divorce; hours later, her father's housekeeper calls from America to break the news of his death. So begins a story of friendship that captivates readers from the outset. Certainly, it is formulaic in places: as Freddie tries to come to terms with jarring life changes, she finds herself depending more and more on Sarah's widowed husband. But for the most part, Noble bestows enough imperfections in her characters and twists in the plot to take the story beyond typical romance fare. Readers will enjoy the appealing sketches of London, Cape Cod, and Boston as the friends travel across the Atlantic to help Freddie sort out the ramifications of her parent's death. Noble's second novel solidifies her reputation as a graceful and stylish writer with the ability to blend the humor and complexities of everyday friendships.-Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Library System, VA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Despite the title, friendship takes a backseat to romance in British author Noble's second novel (The Reading Group, 2005) about the intersecting lives of a band of British women 20 years after they vow eternal friendship as college freshmen. The four friends meet at Oxford in 1984. Slightly overweight Tamsin is already a nurturing earth mother. Reagan is a skinny, shy bookworm. Freddie, whose father is American, is a little wild but fun. Sarah is beautiful and kind; she dies young in an accident, leaving behind her mourning husband Matthew. By 2004, Reagan, nursing a secret, unrequited passion for Matthew, has turned into a workaholic lawyer with a prickly personality and a penchant for one-night stands. Tamsin, married to her college sweetie Neil, is settled into jolly domesticity and merrily pregnant with their fourth child. Freddie's rich and handsome but shallow husband Adrian has sent her sensitive little boy Harry off to boarding school against her wishes. Driving home from Harry's school, Freddie gets two life-changing cell-phone calls: first from Adrian, to say he's leaving her for another woman, then from Grace, her father's housekeeper who raised Freddie after her mother's desertion, to say that Freddie's father has died. Tamsin and Reagan, who has quit her job, lend Freddie their moral support by accompanying her to the funeral in America. Matthew, who has long had a crush on Freddie, soon follows, and romance slowly blossoms, while Freddie uncovers family secrets. A wearying mix of stock characters in a lukewarm melodrama.