Autobiography of Us - Aria Beth Sloss

In the opening chapter Rebecca refers to her friendship with Alex as ‘braided’ which is a great description of how their lives remained forever intertwined since that unlikely childhood friendship began.
Their friendship is a complex entanglement of trust, admiration, love and betrayal which is a consuming mass of emotions that sits at the heart of their very existence. It’s as fragile as it is deep, as spiteful as it is loving.This book explores two girls aspirations to become the individuals they aspired to be, to achieve more than their parents were able and the struggle they experienced to think and behave in new ways that would transform their lives in this era. 
Set in the early 1960s onwards attitudes towards education, affluence, sex, sexuality and race are all explored through Rebecca’s eyes illustrating the impact these all have on a generation of young women trying to strike out on their own and achieve their own versions of success. In the background to Rebecca’s story the effect of the last financial crash, the Vietnam war and race relations all simmer.
At the heart of this debut novel Sloss captures the female struggle through the enduring friendship and the different paths Rebecca and Alex pursue. The story was so fresh and engaging it really kept me speculating where it would eventually lead and ultimately who Rebecca was really addressing in her narration. I really couldn’t put it down until I had finished it. Rebecca's voice felt so genuine and natural as if she were directly opening up to me to reveal her incredible story.