Fiction
2001 Scribner
Finished on October 3, 2001
Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)
Publisher's Blurb:
Anita Diamant, whose rich portrayal of the biblical world of women illuminated her acclaimed international bestseller The Red Tent, now crafts a moving novel of contemporary female friendship.Good Harbor is the long stretch of Cape Ann beach where two women friends walk and talk, sharing their personal histories and learning life's lessons from each other. Kathleen Levine, a longtime resident of Gloucester, Massachusetts, is maternal and steady, a devoted children's librarian, a convert to Judaism, and mother to two grown sons. When her serene life is thrown into turmoil by a diagnosis of breast cancer at fifty-nine, painful past secrets emerge and she desperately needs a friend. Forty-two-year-old Joyce Tabachnik is a sharp-witted freelance writer who is also at a fragile point in her life. She's come to Gloucester to follow her literary aspirations, but realizes that her husband and young daughter are becoming increasingly distant. Together, Kathleen and Joyce forge a once-in-a-lifetime bond and help each other to confront scars left by old emotional wounds.
My Original Thoughts (2001):
Not terribly deep (one dimensional male characters), but entertaining. Read it in two days. Fluff.
My Current Thoughts:
I still have a copy of this book, so I must have thought it worthy of someday re-reading. I was close to the young woman's age when I read the book in 2001, and I'm now a couple of years older than the other woman. I wonder if I'll relate more closely to Kathleen now that I'm in my early 60s.
I like books about friendships between women, this sounds good.
ReplyDeleteI do too, Vicki. I'm going to read this one again.
DeleteIt's funny how a book can resonate differently depending on when we read it.
ReplyDeleteTina, it will be interesting to see if I enjoy it as much (or better) when I reread it later this year.
DeleteI've only read the Red Tent by Diamant, which I loved (honestly, the idea of a red tent is so appealing!), but never ended up reading her other books.
ReplyDeleteHelen, I loved The Red Tent, too, although I don't remember a whole lot about it now.
DeleteAfter loving The Red Tent, I went on to read another two or three Diamant novels, including this one. Unfortunately I don't remember a thing about it... other than that it wasn't as good as The Red Tent. The Boston Girl is still on my tbr list.
ReplyDeleteJoAnn, The Boston Girl is on my list, too. I thought I had a copy, but don't see it on my shelf, so I'll look for it (eventually) at the library.
DeleteI rated this 3 stars and don't remember a thing about it. I had to check GoodReads to verify that I had actually read it. I tend to think of my 3-star books as forgettable so at least I got that part right. Same for her book, The Last Days of Dogtown. I did like The Red Tent a lot though. And Day After Night is on my TBR.
ReplyDeleteJen, I'm the same with those 3-star reads. They're good and entertaining, but not long lasting. However, we read so many books every year, it's no wonder we can't recall all of them.
DeleteBack when I was young, I read so many books I labeled then as women's fiction. These were stories I related to, told with a deep emotional honesty that I hadn't seen in other genres of books I'd read. This was one of those. I wonder if books like this are still labeled as women's fiction.
ReplyDeleteDeb, I would classify this one as "women's fiction," too. I read a lot of that genre in the late 90s/early 2000s. I still enjoy it every now and then, but more so with the focus on women of a more mature age.
DeleteI remember reading The Red Tent long ago and being taken with it, but I never knew of the author's other books. I like friendship plots and it sounds pretty good.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I'm going to try to make time to read this again, maybe this summer. I'm interested to see if I enjoy it more now since I like reading about women of a mature age.
DeleteI did read The Red Tent back when it came out and loved it and then didn't read anything by her until a few years ago when I read The Boston Girl which I thought was really good. It was actually an audio book so I wonder if that's why I enjoyed it more too because the narration was really good. I'd probably give this one a try.
ReplyDeleteIliana, The Red Tent was very popular when it first came out, wasn't it? I'd like to read The Boston Girl and will make a note to get it on audio. Thanks for the tip.
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