'A beautifulbook . . . crammed with a world of insight into death, grief, art and love' WallStreet Journal When a womanunexpectedly loses a lifelong friend and mentor to suicide, she finds herselfburdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against griefis intensified by the mute suffering of the dog, a huge Great Dane that hadbeen devoted to its suddenly vanished master, and by the threat of eviction:dogs are prohibited in her apartment building. TheFriend is both a meditation on friendship, loss andbereavement, and a celebration of the wonder and healing power of thehuman-canine bond. 'A pitch-perfectnovel . . . Wry and moving, The Friend is a love story, amania story, and a recovery story' Vanity Fair ' An intimate, beautiful thing, humming withinsight' The Economist 'Dry, allusive,charming . . . Nunez has an interesting mind, and she shakes the dust fromevery topic - grief, writing, academia, sexual politics - she picks up' New York Times Critics' Top Books of2018 'A sneaky gutpunch of a novel . . . a consummate example of