The Most Likely Club, page 1
Praise for
Last Summer at the Golden Hotel
“Two families agonize over whether to sell their once-successful Catskills resort. Last Summer at the Golden Hotel promises snark, sass, and sunshine-filled fun.”
—Bustle
“Friedland brings two families full circle over the fate of a storied hotel they’ve owned together for three generations. . . . Old tensions and new romances arise as they decide if the nostalgia and storied legacy of the hotel can save it, or if they’re having their last summer at the Golden. . . . Episodes of intergenerational disconnect contrasted with unshakable family bonds make Last Summer at the Golden Hotel a great choice for fans of Schitt’s Creek and feel-good family dramedies.”
—Shelf Awareness
“You will laugh out loud at the antics of two delightfully dysfunctional families as they fight, share secrets, and fall in love in the once-prosperous Catskills hotel that they own. Once again, Friedland brilliantly wields her rapier wit—if Dorothy Parker and Joan Rivers wrote a book, this would be it!”
—Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue
“In Last Summer at the Golden Hotel, Elyssa Friedland creates a broad cast of characters who are at once touching and hilarious. Their fears, their secrets, and their dreams come together in a moving story that balances nostalgia for the past and hope for the future. A perfect book for a family book club.”
—Jill Santopolo, New York Times bestselling author of The Light We Lost
“Long known for her humor and wit, Elyssa Friedland has penned a charmer of a novel in Last Summer at the Golden Hotel, a story about two families who own a resort in the Catskills, which was a crown jewel in its heyday but is now in decline. Fans of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Dirty Dancing will revel in the nostalgia of a bygone era and the richness of this intergenerational tale, which manages to be smart, funny, honest, and poignant all at the same time.”
—Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman with the Blue Star
“Chock-full of charm and wit, Elyssa Friedland’s Last Summer at the Golden Hotel is the only family drama you need this year! Set in a ramshackle Catskills hotel and featuring a vibrant cast of characters, it’s a laugh-out-loud funny novel with a heart of gold.”
—Karma Brown, international bestselling author of Recipe for a Perfect Wife
“Prepare to laugh. Take a trip to the Catskills with Last Summer at the Golden Hotel and bask in the hilarity and chaos that make Elyssa Friedland the queen of the family drama.”
—Jane L. Rosen, author of Eliza Starts a Rumor
“Written with Friedland’s signature wit and sharp dialogue, Last Summer at the Golden Hotel is an incisive novel that touches on family legacies, nostalgia, and multigenerational dynamics. Readers not content with armchair immersion will want to book their Catskills getaway immediately.”
—Booklist
“The vanished history of the Catskills is evoked with love and plenty of schmaltz. A high-spirited party of a book. BYOB: bring your own borscht.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Friedland brings laughs and nuance to the family foibles and demonstrates a wide range in her convincing narration from the many points of view. Breezy and charming, this is great fun.”
—Publishers Weekly
Praise for
The Floating Feldmans
“When Annette Feldman decides to celebrate her seventieth birthday with a family cruise, drama—and hilarity—ensue.”
—People
“Family reunions can rock the boat. This one does it on a cruise ship. When the Feldmans hit the high seas for their matriarch’s seventieth, a lot of drama and laughs come out in tight quarters. Think This Is Where I Leave You meets The Family Stone.”
—theSkimm
“The Floating Feldmans is a hilarious romp on the sea that is perfect for your poolside reading this summer! I read this book with a wide grin, and I know that you will too! Highly recommend!”
—Catherine McKenzie, bestselling author of I’ll Never Tell and Spin
“Friedland uses multiple perspectives, witty dialogue, and complex characters that are incredibly relatable to deliver a funny, astute look at the family dynamic and the relationships shared within. Whether on a cruise or taking a staycation, contemporary readers will want to have The Floating Feldmans on deck.”
—Booklist
“The Floating Feldmans is a fast, funny, surprisingly heartwarming ride on the high seas.”
—Shelf Awareness
“Friedland creates vivid characters with distinct voices, from the outwardly critical matriarch to the insecure teenager. . . . A fun look at family drama on the open seas.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“The Floating Feldmans is a story about an estranged family’s wild vacation. This book is so dramatic that it might actually make your fam feel normal . . . even if you’re losing your mind on day five of your own trip.”
—Cosmopolitan
“Long a master of insightful books about modern life and relationships, Friedland turns her formidable talents to the family cruise. Uproariously funny, yet heartfelt and true, The Floating Feldmans will have each reader seeing her own family fun and foibles in the choppy waters, laughing and crying at the same time to the very last wonderful page.”
—Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Paris
“An intelligent, insightful, touching novel about the secrets we keep and the family that loves us anyway.”
—Abbi Waxman, author of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
“Elyssa Friedland’s premise is perfect. Take three generations of an estranged family, put them on a boat—a forced cruise to celebrate the matriarch’s seventieth birthday—and let the dysfunction fly. A pleasure to read.”
—Laurie Gelman, author of Class Mom
“Such a smart, honest look at the modern American family. Elyssa Friedland has written a book that feels both up-to-the-minute contemporary and, somehow, absolutely timeless.”
—Matthew Norman, author of We’re All Damaged and Domestic Violets
“All aboard! The Floating Feldmans is for everyone who’s ever thought their family is absolutely crazy . . . but loves them anyway. Sibling rivalries and skeletons in the closet all come to a head in this fun, quirky family saga.”
—Georgia Clark, author of The Bucket List
“The Floating Feldmans was a blast: funny, moving, and immensely readable. Friedland’s all-you-can-eat buffet of quirky characters walks right off the page and into your heart.”
—Jonathan Evison, author of This is Your Life, Harriet Chance!
“Take a big, dysfunctional family, reunite them for the first time in ten years on a Caribbean cruise ship they can’t escape, and add endless buffets, blindfolded pie-eating contests, and impromptu conga lines on the sundeck. What could possibly go wrong? Both cruising fans and skeptics alike will get a laugh out of this story of a family trying to stay afloat.”
—National Geographic
“Friedland’s well-executed and smartly structured novel features chapters from each character’s point of view. The simple but clever premise lets the author explore the complicated tensions of family relationships in a compressed and directed way . . . there is dry humor and a certain sweetness as well.”
—Library Journal
Praise for
The Intermission
“The snappy dialogue makes this an effortless page-turner, almost a movie treatment more than a novel . . . intelligent commercial fiction.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“The Intermission is a thoughtful look at the complexities of marriage, delivering deep truths about how we share a life with another person. It will have you wondering: How well do I really know my spouse?”
—PopSugar
“A multifaceted look at the difficulties and rewards of marriage.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Entertaining marriage saga. . . . Friedland insightfully dissects motives, lies, and love in this engrossing deconstruction of a bad marriage.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Expertly paced and eerily realistic, this novel will make readers think twice about the line between deception and mystery in any relationship.”
—Booklist
Titles by Elyssa Friedland
Love and Miss Communication
The Intermission
The Floating Feldmans
Last Summer at the Golden Hotel
The Most Likely Club
BERKLEY
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
penguinrandomhouse.com
Copyright © 2022 by Elyssa Friedland
Readers Guide copyright © 2022 by Elyssa Friedland
Excerpt from The Floating Feldmans copyright © 2019 by Elyssa Friedland
Penguin Random House supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin Random House to continue to publish books for every reader.
BERKLEY and the BERKLEY & B colophon are registered tra
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Friedland, Elyssa, author.
Title: The most likely club / Elyssa Friedland.
Description: First Edition. | New York: Berkley, 2022.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022014352 (print) | LCCN 2022014353 (ebook) | ISBN 780593199749 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9780593199756 (ebook)
Subjects: LCGFT: Novels.
Classification: LCC PS3606.R55522 M67 2022 (print) | LCC PS3606.R55522
(ebook) | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022014352
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022014353
First Edition: September 2022
Cover design and illustration by Lila Selle
Title page art: Floral graduation frame © Amanita Silvicora / Shutterstock
Book design by Alison Cnockaert, adapted for ebook by Kelly Brennan
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Contents
Cover
Praise for Elyssa Friedland
Titles by Elyssa Friedland
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Acknowledgments
Readers Guide
Excerpt from The Floating Feldmans
About the Author
For my friends, the ones who text back quickly
“Happiness comes from being who you actually are instead of who you think you are supposed to be.”
—Shonda Rhimes
“As if!”
—Cher, in Clueless
Prologue
BELLPORT, CONNECTICUT
1997
THE SMART-BUT-SOCIAL TABLE in the lunchroom was in the back corner, underneath a row of wall-mounted pennants boasting victories in swimming, wrestling, and football, and kitty-corner from the hot-and-popular table, which was next to the cafeteria line. This ensured the jocks, and those lucky enough to orbit them, got first dibs on the sloppy joes and hash browns. Scattered in between were the artsy types, the nerds, the Phishheads, the goths, and the milquetoasts who defied classification.
Melissa Levin, Suki Hammer, Priya Chowdhury, and Tara Taylor had taken over the smart-but-social table during their sophomore year, inheriting it from students who’d graduated the year before. Bellport Academy, the tiny private school in their posh hamlet in Connecticut, had the usual Anytown, USA, teenage groupings. If the social cliques were any more stratified, it would be a pyramid scheme. Melissa, Suki, Priya, and Tara had been best friends since the eighth grade—a convenient time to fortify a social circle, or square, as in their case. They had agreed that upon entering high school they wouldn’t attempt to penetrate the popular crowd, but they wouldn’t fall in with the geeks, either. They’d occupy the precious space of honor roll students who still get invited to parties.
Their plan worked. The four of them stuck together, earning high marks—Priya always on top—and carrying enough social currency that the jocks and cheerleaders knew their names and the nerds knew better than to ask them to study. And now they were seniors. Graduation was only a month away. Today was the day they’d been dreading, anticipating, imagining, and stressing over all at once.
It was yearbook day.
Yearbook day meant finding out if all their efforts had paid off. Having the right clothes (a fake Kate Spade could pass muster if the stitching was fine enough), devoting time to eight-minute abs (and buns!), leading the extracurriculars, maintaining GPAs above 3.5. College admissions season had already come and gone, arguably the more important barometer of success in high school. But the four friends were more anxious about the yearbook superlatives than whether the college envelopes in their mailboxes were thick or thin.
There were fifty superlatives each year and approximately two hundred graduating seniors. The entire class voted. Some results were obvious. Kim Konner would get Most Popular. She was a blond Jennifer Love Hewitt, tits on a stick with girl-next-door approachability. Lulu Anderson would clinch Most Fashionable; her collection of baby doll dresses was ripe for a Seventeen magazine spread. Charlie Rice would get Most Athletic, and Byron Cox would get Most Likely to Win the Lottery (and lose the ticket). Suki, Priya, Melissa, and Tara had agonized over what they’d get, silently fearing how it would affect their dynamic if they didn’t each clinch something.
Melissa didn’t say it to her friends, but she couldn’t imagine getting skipped over. She’d made her mark. Student body president. Editor in chief of the newspaper. Honor roll every term. Now she was headed to Georgetown, where she planned to study government and feminist studies. She figured with a track record like hers—not a single lost election for a leadership position—she might have a knack for politics in the real world. Most Likely to Be President had to be hers.
Suki was also feeling confident. She wasn’t Melissa, with a list of extracurriculars that required an addendum on her college application. But she was well known around the school. For starters, she was half-Japanese. And in a lily-white school community with a disproportionate amount of Mayflower lineage, Suki’s heritage made it so every student, freshman through senior, knew her story. Her mother was Japanese, a former model in Tokyo aged into reluctant housewifery, and her father a white entrepreneur with a run of bad luck (or poor business acumen). He seemed determined to declare Chapter 11 eleven times. A solid student, Suki switched to Japanese when she wanted attention—and what high school girl didn’t—and was rumored to have dated a college boy for the past year. She floated the rumor, but only Melissa, Tara, and Priya knew it. Suki was likely to get a superlative, but even she didn’t have much of a hunch as to what it would be. Hopefully nothing dreadfully on the nose, like Most Exotic.
Then came Priya. Overworked, cautious, and brilliant Priya Chowdhury. Another student of color, but somehow it didn’t ring the bells that Suki’s roots did. Maybe her lack of mystique stemmed from her father being the preeminent pediatrician in town. In middle school, the boys used to joke about Dr. Chowdhury grabbing their junk when he examined them. Priya brushed it off as best she could. It helped that her nose was always in a book, and her gaze firmly planted on her future path. First stop Harvard (already accepted), then Harvard Medical School, then a fellowship in orthopedics—she’d always loved the intricacies of the human body. She would study the skeletons strung as Halloween decorations around the neighborhood while the others stuffed Blow Pops into plastic pumpkins.
Finally, there was Tara, who had (Michelin) stars in her eyes after an appearance in middle school on the Today show propelled her to local stardom. She made a duck à l’orange for Al Roker that made him weep on air. She’d learned to make eggs with shaved truffles and deep-fried Jerusalem artichokes at age five; for her eighth birthday she requested a rondeau. Her palate was supernatural—at least double the normal amount of taste buds resided on her tongue. She could detect the presence of nutmeg with her eyes closed and demanded her parents plant an herb garden so she could have fresh thyme and rosemary. She showed off the burn scars on her fingers like Girl Scout badges. There was little doubt she’d open a restaurant one day.
