Book

Female Friendship under Siege

The Other’s Gold charts messy college relationships.

Front cover of the book, "The Other's Gold" by Elizabeth Ames

Last year, Elizabeth Ames Staudt ’03 of Cambridge, Massachusetts, released her debut novel, The Other’s Gold. Beginning on a college campus, the book follows the friendship of four women — Lainey, Ji Sun, Alice, and Margaret — as they experience major turning points in their lives.

The friends, who meet during their freshman year at Quincy-Hawthorn College and quickly become inseparable, soon face threats to their bond. In her transition from college to parenthood, each friend makes an awful mistake. The novel dedicates one part to each blunder — “The Accident,” “The Accusation,” “The Kiss,” and “The Bite” — and confronts how growing up forces friendships to evolve.

Elizabeth Ames Staudt

Elizabeth Ames Staudt Adrianne Mathiowetz

On a list titled “The 28 Best Books of 2019,” Elle ranked The Other’s Gold as its 11th pick, writing, “The debut novel of the season, The Other’s Gold reads like an origin story for the women of Big Little Lies.” The book has also been reviewed by Vogue and Bustle, among others. “This novel will resonate with anyone who guards an inner circle forged in dorm rooms and dining halls, but it is also, in the end, more than that,” wrote Vogue. And Bustle called it “an ode to the turmoil and joy of female friendship, and the perfect book to read with your friends.”

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