Product Description

The women of Freesia Court are convinced that there is nothing good coffee, delectable desserts, and a strong shoulder can’t fix. Laughter is the glue that holds them together—the foundation of a book group they call AHEB (Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons), an unofficial “club” that becomes much more. It becomes a lifeline. Holding on through forty eventful years, there’s Faith, a lonely mother of twins who harbors a terrible secret that has condemned her to living a lie; big, beautiful Audrey, the resident sex queen who knows that with good posture and an attitude you can get away with anything; Merit, the shy doctor’s wife with the face of an angel and the private hell of an abusive husband; Kari, a wise woman with a wonderful laugh who knows the greatest gifts appear after life’s fiercest storms; and finally, Slip, a tiny spitfire of a woman who isn’t afraid to look trouble straight in the eye.

This stalwart group of friends depicts a special slice of American life, of stay-at-home days and new careers, of children and grandchildren, of bold beginnings and second chances, in which the power of forgiveness, understanding, and the perfectly timed giggle fit is the CPR that mends broken hearts and shattered dreams.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #179582 in Books
• Published on: 2004
• Released on: 2004-02-03
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 8.00" h x .92" w x 7.21" l, .74 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Five friends live through three decades of marriages, child raising, neighborhood parties, bad husbands and good brownies-and Landvik (Patty Jane's House of Curl) doesn't miss a single cliche as she chronicles their lives in this pleasant but wholly familiar novel of female bonding. When Faith Owens's husband is transferred from Texas to the "stupid godforsaken frozen tundra" of Freesia Court, Minn., in 1968, her life looks like it's going to be one dull, snowy slog-until the power goes out one evening and a group of what appear to be madwomen start a snowball fight in her backyard. These dervishes turn out to be her neighbors: antiwar activist Slip; sexpot Audrey; painfully shy Merit; and widow Kari. They become fast friends and decide to escape their humdrum routine by starting the Freesia Court Book Club, later given the eponymous name by one of their disgruntled husbands. As the years pass, Audrey and Merit get divorced, Kari adopts her niece's illegitimate baby, all five of the women find work outside their homes and they even smoke a joint together. Their personal dramas are regularly punctuated by reflections on political milestones ("First Martin Luther King, Jr., then Bobby Kennedy. As if we didn't have enough to worry about with this stupid war..."). While some scenes are touching and genuinely funny, readers of Fannie Flagg, Rita Mae Brown, Rebecca Wells and many imitators will feel that they've seen this before.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
At the heart of this new work from the popular Landvik (Welcome to the Great Mysterious) is the Freesia Court Book Club, whose five women members go through a lot together.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Landvik makes her contribution to the female-friends-sharing-life's-ups-and-downs genre with this saga of suburban Minneapolis housewives who form a book discussion group and found a friendship that spans 30 years. So dysfunctional and dramatic are their lives, so witty and wise are these women, Landvik could just as easily have titled the book Divine Secrets of the Uffda Sisterhood. Thrown together by a harsh winter storm, the women band together to weather the emotional upheavals such long-lasting friendships are bound to encounter. There's fearful Faith, burdened by a secret past; meek Merit, whose marriage harbors secrets literally too painful to reveal; audacious Audrey, whose sexual appetites are far from secret; sassy Slip, protesting social injustices great and small; and kindhearted Kari, a widow longing for someone to end her loneliness. While the group's book selections often mirror what's happening in their lives or the world around them, Landvik's ladies endure the best and worst of times together (and recommend some great reads along the way). Carol Haggas
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