The Three of Us

By: Ore Agbaje-Williams

Narrated by: Jake Fairbrother, T'Nia Miller, Tariye Peterside

Best Book of the Year

Time • Real Simple • Oprah Daily

A Belletrist Book Club Pick

"As short and sharp as a pairing knife . . . Moves along so briskly and with such sly wit . . . Deliciously wicked."—Ron Charles, The Washington Post

Long-standing tensions between a husband, his wife, and her best friend finally come to a breaking point in this sharp domestic comedy of manners, told brilliantly over the course of one day.

What if your two favorite people hated each other with a passion?

The wife has it all. A big house in a nice neighborhood, a ride-or-die snarky best friend, Temi, with whom to laugh about facile men, and a devoted husband who loves her above all else—even his distaste for Temi.

On a seemingly normal day, Temi comes over to spend a lazy afternoon with the wife: drinking wine, eating snacks, and laughing caustically about the husband's shortcomings. But when the husband comes home and a series of confessions are made, the wife's two confidants are suddenly forced to jockey for their positions, throwing everyone's integrity into question—and their long-drawn-out territorial dance, carefully constructed over years, into utter chaos.

Told in three taut, mesmerizing parts—the wife, the husband, the best friend—over the course of one day, The Three of Us is a subversively comical, wildly astute, and painfully compulsive triptych of domestic life that explores cultural truths, what it means to defy them, and the fine line between compromise and betrayal when it comes to ourselves and the people we're meant to love.

©2023 Ore Agbaje-Williams (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

One of Lit Hub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2023

One of NYLON’s Most Anticipated Books of 2023

One of ELLE’s Best New Books for Summer

One of TIME's Best Books of May 2023

One of PopSugar’s Best New Books of 2023

One of The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Best New Books of May

One of New York Post’s Best New Books

One of AFAR’s Best Books for Summer

"Switching points of view among the three, this debut is viciously funny, different than anything you’ve read lately, and at the same time, strangely relatable."—Oprah Daily

"A dark, funny tale that tackles an uncomfortably familiar question: what happens if your partner and your best friend cannot stand each other?"—The Guardian

"Two's company, three's a crowd—and what a crowd they are, in this smart, sly novel by Ore Agbaje-Williams."—CBS Sunday Morning

Slow!

This is one of the few books that I could not finish, it was going no where fast. Boring!

Easy Quick and Relatable

I thought this was a quick and easy read that I enjoyed. The story seemed relatable to me as a person who has a very close best friend. It’s very hard to have two worlds collide and make space for both. Loved it

Well written but abrupt

Felt a bit like I was left hanging abruptly and Temi's cruelty seemed too much.

Epitome of a codependent relationship between two best girlfriends!

I thought when I started reading this story, it was gonna be a lot more interesting than it really was… it’s the epitome of the codependency relationship between two best girlfriends! The married woman character was a poor example of a women what should have had more of a back bone with her her BFF. The BFF was so annoying and rude that if I were the husband, I would have asked to her leave on multiple opportunities! The poor chap that wasn’t man enough to stand up for himself to either women! The BFF villain needed to get a life or get some good drugs!

hard to understand

I enjoyed the story and the tension between all three of the characters, but the narrator in part three was a bit hard to understand because of her thick British accent. Had to pause and rewind multiple times. All three of the characters are very unlikeable, so there really isn't someone to root for.

Short and not so sweet

The performances were good but the characters were irritating and the story just missed. It's a good thing it was a short listen because I couldn't take much more - which is too bad because the premise was actually rather interesting but it was just too forced and obvious. I feel the author could have been more subtle and taken more time and it would have been a better book.

More of a long preview than a complete story

The story was so incomplete. The friend had no redeeming traits. I actually don’t even know if I would call it a friendship rather it was more of a unhealthy codependency. The friend was unhappy and manipulative. I was hoping that in her chapter we would understand her perspective but actually ended up not liking her even more.

It was incomplete. Three points of view with no true understanding of the why behind the point of the “friend” still being part of their lives.

Ok story…but

The book just ends in what feels like chapter 3. If this was a free preview then maybe this would have been ok but boo! The “ending” was terrible!

3.5 Stars Sharp and Funny

Quick sharp-witted story of the relationships between a husband, wife and her best friend and where the wife's loyalty lies.

Very unlikable characters

This is one bad book that may have been better to read. At least I wouldn’t have to listen to the voice of the irritating characters. Thank goodness it was short.