April 1, 2019
Throughout college, Evvie, Maggie, and Topher were the best of friends. But time and the mistakes that come with simply being human may strain their love to the breaking point. The daughter of a hardworking Jamaican immigrant and an abusive American banker, Evvie Williams grew up a child actor, ironically starring as an adorable daughter in The Perfect Family. That's when her struggles with weight began, as her mother put her on her first diet at age 7. After her father hit her mother one too many times, she and her mother pulled up stakes and moved to London. Years of yo-yo dieting later, she heads off to college, where she meets Maggie Hallwell, the redheaded only daughter in a raucous and somewhat posh family from Sussex. They discover Topher, the son of the impossibly glamorous Joan Winthrop, while shopping for dorm furniture. Immediately smitten with each other, the three are inseparable, even rooming together for the last years of college. Of course, there's also Evil Ben, so dubbed because he never smiled at Evvie, even when she began bartending at the same local pub. Nonetheless, Maggie falls head over heels in love with Ben at first sight. Green (The Sunshine Sisters, 2017, etc.) masterfully switches from one character's perspective to another's, devastatingly sketching their successes, showing how they're riddled with pain, and setting them on a collision course. Maggie eventually marries her beloved Ben, yet their seemingly perfect marriage is fractured by a lack of children and Ben's catastrophic drinking, which Maggie desperately tries to keep secret. Topher embarks on a successful acting career and finds love. Yet he's also struggling with a secret about his past. Evvie has not only lived a glamorous life as a supermodel, but also raised her son, Jack. And she, too, hides a few secrets. Thirty years later, the friends reunite, but one of their secrets threatens to destroy everything. Love, grief, and forgiveness illuminate this compelling summer read.
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April 8, 2019
In this riveting contemporary, Green (The Sunshine Sisters) brings three college friends back together for an unforgettable reunion. In 1986 England, Evvie Williams, a half-Jamaican former child television star from Brooklyn, arrives at West Country University to start her freshman year. Evvie becomes fast friends and roommates with Maggie Hallwell, a girl from Sussex with three brothers and a loving, wealthy family. Though Evvie’s parents are divorced and the money she earned as a child is tied up in a trust, she and Maggie ignore their differences and bond instantly over their similarities. They meet Topher Winthrop, another student from the U.S., and the three quickly become inseparable. After graduation, the friends go their separate ways. Maggie works in PR in London and eventually marries Ben Curran, the boy she had a crush on during college. Evvie becomes a supermodel, and Topher gains fame as a soap opera actor. When they attend their 30th college reunion, hoping to reconnect after years of failing to stay in touch, old secrets come to light, threatening their newly reestablished friendships. Green writes with a clear, unfettered voice, filling this page-turner with plot twists and hinting at the power of forgiveness. This novel is an excellent companion for the beach or summer travel—especially to a class reunion. Agent: Shane Salerno, The Story Factory.
May 1, 2019
Green's (The Sunshine Sisters, 2017) latest follows the lives of three college friends who drift apart, then come back together later in life. In the mid-1980s, former child actress Evvie, who grew up in New York City with her Jamaican mother and American father, opts to attend college in England, where she meets vivacious Maggie and guarded Topher. The three quickly become inseparable, supporting each other as Evvie struggles with her weight, Maggie nurtures a crush on a smoldering bartender they dub Evil Ben, and Topher grapples with his sexuality while hiding an aspect of his childhood that makes him fear intimacy. Upon graduation, the three go their separate ways. Evvie pursues a career as a supermodel. Maggie embarks on a relationship with Ben, and Topher becomes a soap-opera star. Green follows their lives over the next 30 years, until a college reunion brings them back together and promises a fresh start, which is promptly jeopardized by a secret. Absorbing and full of surprising twists, Green's novel is a perfect summer read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)
February 1, 2019
Best friends at university, Evvie, Maggie, and Topher have lost touch with one another and their dreams. Supermodel Evvie wrecked her career with an ill-advised liaison. Maggie married the love of her life, who turned out to be an alcoholic. And successful actor Topher sabotages relationships because of childhood shame. Now it's their 30th reunion; are second chances possible?
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