Newmag Presents Latvian Contemporary Writer Astra Filipsone’s Novella "Friend Tariff" (Trailer)

Unemployed and lonely, Nata receives a job offer to become a "friend for rent." At first glance, her duties are simple: listen, converse, and spend time with clients. However, each meeting gradually turns into a full human story, with its secrets, unspoken pain, and unfulfilled needs.

Nata's clients are diverse: a lonely teenager, an elderly woman, a person lost within their family, a successful businessperson experiencing internal emptiness. They come not just to talk. Each of them wants to be heard, accepted, and understood. And it is this seemingly simple desire that is often the hardest to fulfill—especially in an era when people are constantly connected, yet increasingly find themselves alone.

In her novella, Astra Filipsone presents the everyday difficulties of modern life: smartphone addiction, communication complexes, lack of friends, self-esteem issues, and the job search. The characters in the story are ordinary people with their discomforts, flaws, and contradictions. Because of this, readers will recognize themselves or those around them in the characters.

According to the author, readers often write that they read the book "in one breath," loved it, and saw their own lives in the story. For a debut writer, such responses are gratifying and a motivation to create.

"Friend Tariff" is a light, entertaining read, but underneath the light content hide serious questions. Is it possible to buy companionship yet gain real intimacy? Can a relationship that started on an hourly rate turn into a genuine bond? And who actually changes during these meetings—the client or the protagonist?

Each new meeting forces the protagonist to reconsider her ideas about people, friendship, and her own life. She gradually realizes that people often pay not simply for time, but for attention, acceptance, and human warmth. And all of that, no matter how much we try to measure it in money, does not actually fit into any tariff.

With humor and touching scenes, Astra Filipsone's novella tells a story about loneliness, trust, human connections, and the value of real intimacy in the digital age. This is a book for those who have ever felt lonely in a crowded world and wondered if there is someone beside them who will truly listen.

Astra Filipsone's novella "Friend Tariff" is a Latvian work translated by Naira Khachatryan.

Main partner of the book: Cinema Star.

The book presentation will take place at Yerevan BookFest 2026 on September 5, at 16:00, at the History Museum. During the festival, the novella will be sold at a 30% discount.