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 young women who live on Cincinnati's Grand Avenue become fast friends after meeting in the neighborhood park. Twenty years later, their lives take on a very different flavor. Fielding (Missing Pieces) fully develops her four women characters, each of whom is exquisitely revealed. Barbara is a regal ex-beauty queen whose focus on her appearance exposes her inner emptiness. Vicki is intense and driven; her energy and savvy propel her legal career past those she has hurt along the way. Practical and steady Susan makes a career as a spokesperson against sexual harassment after unfairly losing her job. And Chris is on the fringe of the group because of a controlling husband who limits her contacts outside of the home. Chris's story offers a chilling look into the dynamics of spousal abuse, as the evolving friendships between the women take on the difficulties of their very different lives. The book turns upon Barbara's murder and the resulting involvement of the other three in a search for justice. Emotionally compelling reading that is hard to put down; highly recommended. Carol J. Bissett, New Braunfels P.L., TX Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Kymberly Dakin does a fine job of unobtrusively narrating the 23-year history of four young mothers who become friends when living on Grand Avenue in a Cincinnati suburb. She lets the story of each of the women take center stage. Chris, an abused wife; Vicki, a successful lawyer; Barbara, a former beauty queen; and Susan, a student, all have daughters the same age. Starting out as a soap opera-ish women's novel as the four experience abuse, betrayal, and success, the story picks up speed when one is murdered and another defends the prime suspect. D.T.H. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Chris, Barbara, Susan, and Vicki, all young mothers, meet at a local playground in the 1970s and become fast friends for the next 23 years. Chris, warm and funny, turns into a frightened specter as she deals with her husband's uncontrollable temper and quick fists. Barbara, a finalist in the Miss Ohio contest, becomes obsessed with plastic surgery as a way to deal with her husband's infidelity. Susan, practical and smart, is transformed into an icon for the feminist movement when she successfully sues her company on the grounds of sexual harassment. And Vicki, always a go-getter, makes a name for herself as a cutthroat lawyer but ends up sacrificing her friendships to her ambition. Fielding seems to have picked four hot women's topics and wrapped her characters around them, and yet, for all that, this novel is surprisingly effective. As the plot careens dangerously, veering from domestic violence to breast implants and back again, Fielding elevates her narrative with great, sweeping, surprisingly moving paragraphs devoted to the nature of friendship and family. Don't forget to keep a family-size box of Kleenex handy in preparation for the tear-jerking finale. Sure to please Fielding's many fans. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
Library Journal Emotionally compelling...Hard to put down...Fielding fully develops her four women characters, each of whom is exquisitely revealed.


Book Description
Looking back, it seemed like paradise: livesfilled with the blessings of friendship, marriage, children, and career. For twenty years, four friends -- Chris, Barbara, Susan, and Vicki -- shared everything and faced the challenges of life and love head-on. Now, one sits alone to ponder the strange twists of fate and circumstance. Now, she must sift through the past to discover exactly what went wrong, how dreams turned to nightmares as friendships faded and lives were destroyed.... Joy Fielding unlocks the secrets hidden within even the closest relationships in a powerful and mesmerizing novel that explores the meaning of unconditional love.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Looking back, it seemed like paradise: lives filled with the blessings of friendship, marriage, children, and career. For twenty years, four friends—Chris, Barbara, Susan, and Vicki—shared everything through good times and bad, and faced the challenges of life and love head-on.

Now, one sits alone to ponder the strange twists and turns of fate and circumstance.

Now, she must sift thorugh each of their pasts to discover exactly what went wrong, how dreams turned to nightmares as friendships faded and lives were destroyed.

Chris lived a contented life in her modest house with her growing family. It was her husband who never seemed satisfied—and who expected her to sacrifice her happiness to cater to his whims.

Barbara prided herself on staying beautiful for her handsome professor husband. But it wasn't enough to keep him from dallying with his nubile young students.

Susan finished college after motherhood and became a successful magazine editor. But a casual flirtation threatened to shatter the harmonious life she had worked so hard to build.

Vicki's achievements as a stellar and sought-after trial lawyer came at a huge personal price: a marriage and family that always took second place.

Going deep inside the minds and hearts of her utterly believable characters, Joy Fielding unlocks the secrets hidden within even the closest relationships. This powerful and mesmerizing novel explores the bonds women forge, the nature of friendship, and the meaning of unconditional love.

FROM THE CRITICS

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. (Oct.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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 Cahners Business Information.

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