Among Friends

Among Friends is a masterly debut. Hal Ebbott ranges from the most exquisite, Jamesian discriminations to the graspable, all-American solidities of Updike and Richard Yates. This is a writer to watch, with excitement and the highest expectations

John Banville, author of The Sea

The violation that befalls these two families has the unalterable destiny a Greek dramatist like Sophocles might have imagined. Hal Ebbott has written an exquisitely crafted family tragedy.

John Irving

Impressively nuanced . . . Among Friends is a bracingly honest and affectingly intimate depiction of abuse, family dynamics and self-deceit. It is sharply observed and psychologically astute, somehow both passionate and dispassionate, and it upends its characters’ lives so ruthlessly and revealingly that it is hard not to take pleasure in a false facade being finally smashed.

The Guardian

Two dear male friends - after many years of friendship one of them does something unforgivable. Or is it? What makes this novel work is how much Ebbot leaves out. He never comes into a scene a word too soon or stays a sentence too late

Noami Alderman, Books of the Year, The Spectator

It’s beautifully written and packs a huge emotional punch. I couldn’t put it down and kept thinking about it long after I finished. Brilliant

Daily Mail

Ebbott's voice and language set the book apart from other family dramas

NPR

Ebbott is obviously a writer of lavish talents in all the old-school virtues of sentence-writing, paragraph-building, dialogue, characterisation, plot and pacing . . . as the properly page-turning repercussions continue, it’s not just the action that darkens, but the whole social setting

Daily Telegraph

This accomplished debut revolves around two wealthy families . . . simmering tensions and festering rivalries test relationships, but eventually a brutal betrayal threatens to upend lives

The Economist, Best books of the year so far 2025

Among Friends is utterly engrossing; I’m already begging my friends to read it so we can discuss the ending.

ELLE, Best books of Summer 2025

Stylish and assured . . . Ebbott’s prose is honed and aphoristic, recalling the work of James Salter and John Cheever . . . The sentences go down easy, like a cold gin and tonic on a hot day.

The Washington Post

Hal Ebbott’s roman d’analyse-style debut resurfaces old rivalries and resentments, be it class, marriage or power . . . Ebbott grants the readers an intimate insight into thoughts vs actions that will leave you questioning your oldest friendships

The New Statesman

A hard diamond of a novel, Among Friends is cut through with brilliant prose and unsparing insights into the parts of ourselves that usually go unsaid. Ebbott's sentences are sharp enough to wound, yet alive with tenderness. It’s rare to read a debut this exacting and vital; I have not stopped thinking of it since

Coco Mellors, author of Cleopatra and Frankenstein and Blue Sisters

In refined prose that feels like a throwback to mid-20th-century psychological realism, Ebbott lays bare the many ways in which the families harm each other as each character seeks to protect the status quo . . . It's an alluring accomplishment

Publishers Weekly

A beautiful read, with moments where the words simply burst forth from the page

Irish Times

What makes this novel work is how much Ebbot leaves out. He never comes into a scene a word too soon or stays a sentence too late

The Spectator

Emotionally astute and beautifully crafted, Among Friends delivers an unforgettable reading experience

Love Reading