From Publishers Weekly
Bestselling author Fielding (The First Time) takes a trip down memory lane in this romantic drama with a thriller twist at the end. Four women friends meet as young mothers living on Grand Avenue in an upscale Cincinnati suburb and, over the course of 23 years, collectively go through a whole range of human experience. In creating Chris, who's trapped in an abusive marriage, Fielding effectively captures the private terror of a woman psychologically and physically damaged by her husband. Vicki, the hotshot lawyer who cheats on her husband, is a workaholic mom whose family takes second place to corporate success. Susan embodies the modern mother who tries to do right by her family, but faces the challenge of a recalcitrant adolescent daughter and, later, sexual harassment on the job. Former beauty queen Barbara is a looks-obsessed woman whose devotion to countless plastic surgeries blinds her to the qualities that make a relationship work. With her usual page-turning flair, Fielding churns out a swiftly paced story that acquires real suspense when one of the characters meets a surprising fate and the meaning of friendship is put to the ultimate test. The tense denouement resolves into a tear-inducing finale, manna to Fielding's fans. 11-city author tour; teaser chapter to run in the mass market edition of The First Time.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Four neighbors from Grand Avenue, an upscale suburban Cincinnati street, meld friendship, careers, marriage, and motherhood as their lives unfold and entwine over two decades. Fielding, who has been characterized both as a romance writer and "the maven of domestic terror," mixes the affection among women friends (husbands in the book are hardly romance material) with the relentlessness of abuse and the suspense of murder in this enveloping page-turner. Forewarning that either Barbara (aging beauty queen), Chris (abused wife), Susan (doctor's wife/college student), or Vicki (lawyer) will be murdered sets a tone of unease that compels attention. Actress Kymberly Dakin is accomplished at reading the voices of women, girls, and men in various moods. Recommended for romance collections and where Fielding is popular.
Judith Robinson, Univ. at Buffalo, NY Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
de Joy Fielding
de Joy Fielding
de Joy Fielding
de Joy Fielding
de Joy Fielding
