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Sarah and Lauren have always been best friends — through high school and college, first jobs and first loves.

But what happens when you go from inseparable to out of touch? When you no longer talk? When you've lost the things you had in common? 

Are you still best friends? Are you still even friends at all?

Rumaan Alam dives into the intricacies, intimacies and emotional secrets of Sarah and Lauren's long-standing, ever-shifting friendship in "Rich and Pretty." The novel is set in the moneyed world of upper-class New York, where envy is a constant presence.

Some have raised eyebrows at his bitingly astute portrait of two women's relationship, but Alam just laughs. How can he write women so well when he's a man?

"There are many writers who write convincingly about life on Mars or sentient animals. That is simply the work," he told MPR New host Kerri Miller. "In some ways, I had it easier than someone writing about life on Mars, because I've lived my whole life around women, and women are not so different than men ... So it's not that much of a stretch." 

Also, he confessed, he's a thief of moments and details.

"I'm a terrible, terrible thief — as all writers are. ... I've had a lot of exposure to the intricacies of lives that are different than mine, and I just stole it, basically." 

Alam's "Rich and Pretty" alternates between Sarah and Lauren's perspectives as their lives and friendship unfold, giving space to the secret thoughts and self-critiques than neither would ever say out loud. It's a smart, savvy and unflinchingly realistic portrait of friendship, and a summer read with plenty of wit.

For the full interview with Rumaan Alam on "Rich and Pretty" and the tangle of friendship, use the audio player above. 

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Rumaan Alam's debut novel about the intricacies and envies of a longtime friendship comes from years of observation and eavesdropping.

The final book of our Take It to the Lake series is Rumaan Alam's "Rich and Pretty." It's a debut novel set in contemporary New York that follows two friends as they move into adulthood. 8/24/16

'Rich and Pretty': A summer read with wit and bite

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