The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

560 pages

Six teenagers meet at a summer camp for artistic teens in 1974.  The novel unwinds from the first impressions and friendships struck at camp, through college years and adulthood.  One person becomes enormously successful, two marry one another, one accuses another of a horrific act, which splinters the group.  Beyond the remarkable events, the book follows the everyday joys and jealousies of friendship, the guilt you feel when you covet what your friends have, what career fulfillment and success mean, what talent is, what interesting means as one ages alongside and with people known since childhood.  A smart, snappy read, full of ironic angst and wisdom.