Jenna Bush Hager has the perfect book for you to read this July while you take time to enjoy the summer sunshine. For this month, the Read With Jenna pick is Friends and Strangers by J. Courtney Sullivan.

“Friends and Strangers is a compellingly readable book that feels a little bit like a beach read, but at the same time tackles themes of acceptance of others and also of yourself,” said Jenna.

Told from alternating perspectives of a young mom named Elisabeth and her nanny, Sam, this is a book about what it means to live an authentic, happy and purposeful life.

For Sullivan, this book is not a far step outside of her own reality. In an interview with TODAY, she explained that she worked a nanny job in college where she formed a close relationship with the woman she worked for at the time. Now, the mother of two young children, she sees the story from both sides.

“I’ve been that young woman wondering what the future holds and how she’s going to pay off her student loans, and I’ve been the middle-aged mom doling out advice to babysitters in their 20s while I still am totally unsure how to handle aspects of my own life,” said Sullivan.

The novel takes on modern issues surrounding adulthood, motherhood and class. It also offers a broader look at issues we are facing as an American society.

To schedule Courtney for a Virtual Author Event – get in touch with us today!