Good Harbor

In her wildly popular first novel, The Red Tent, Anita Diamant recreated the biblical world of women and uncovered the powerful passions, traditions, and turmoil of a family of sisters and daughters. In Good Harbor, Diamant turns that same perceptive eye to contemporary womanhood, exploring the emotional lives of two mothers in present day Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Bringing her two main characters instantly alive on the page, Diamant explores the secrets women share -- and the ones they don't.

When Kathleen, 59 years old, a graceful and maternal librarian, meets Joyce, a little younger, restless and funny, each has come to a turning point in her life. Kathleen, whose sister died of breast cancer fifteen years earlier, has just been diagnosed herself. Joyce, increasingly distant from her adolescent daughter, is taking stock of her marriage and family and struggling to write her second novel. When these two women meet for the first time, they recognize an immediate kinship. As they take long walks at Good Harbor beach, they begin to share their intimate stories and help each other heal old wounds.

Alternating between Kathleen and Joyce's perspectives, Diamant brings to life not only these women, but also their families. Like Anita Shreve and Judith Guest, and with her own trademark wisdom and surprising humor, Diamant writes of the tragedy of loss, the destructive and restorative power of secrets, and ultimately, of the tenderness of friendship and love.

Romance