Manhattan Triptych

From KIRKUS REVIEWS: Butterfield's narrative toggles back and forth between the past and present. Set against the backdrop of civil protests, the AIDS epidemic, the World Trade Center attack, and the Covid-19 pandemic, the story is packed with entertainment-world tidbits and references, cultural signifiers, and the music of a country in constant, rapid change...Butterfield's acerbic prose provides ample humor and social commentary occasionally heavy with emotional baggage and tragedy. An entertaining combination of sitcom and melodrama."

Diane Daly, Nikki Barone, and Orla Nevins have been the closest of friends since they first played sisters in a summer stock production of "Fiddler on the Roof" in the 1980's. Since then, they have experienced much together -- love, marriage, adultery, loss, betrayal, wild success, wild failure, and the keeping of one secret that could smash their friendship apart if it were to be revealed.

In present day California, Diane has narrowly escaped the loss of her home to a wildfire. In Colorado, Nikki is grieving the death of her husband. Orla, who has always been the most reliable at keeping the friendship together, has disappeared. Alarmed for their friend's safety, Diane and Nikki return to the city to find out what has happened to her. In the process, they find themselves confronting some uncomfortable truths about themselves.

The story travels back and forth in time much the way memory does, piecing together the women's friendship against the background of the AIDS crisis, the savings and loan debacle, the World Trade Center tragedy, the California wildfires, and the ever-changing face of Manhattan.