Competition and Envy in Female Friendships

Ho plays on the “frenemies” trope of toxic best friends in her novel, exploring the outsized role that competition and envy can play in friendships between women. The jealousy Fiona and Jane each feel towards one another as children never truly goes away; they simply get better at understanding these feelings. Families, incomes, careers, and romantic partners are all aspects of life in which Fiona and Jane compete in.

To begin, both Fiona and Jane envy each other’s home lives growing up. For Fiona’s part, she envied the seemingly perfect family which Jane’s parents represented. Fiona never knew her father and thus envied Jane’s closeness with Baba. As for Jane, she wished Mom could be her mother: “Growing up, Jane preferred playing at Fiona’s house, where there were no restrictions on what they could watch on...