Girls Most Likely
A Novel
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
“We didn’t know then that the dramas we imagined weren’t even warm-ups for what real life held for us.”
From the fifth grade to their fifth decade, Vaughn, Reenie, Susan, and Audrey share secrets and dreams–their lives connected like silk threads through rich fabric, pulling but never breaking at life’s unexpected twists and turns. Meet the girls most likely
TO WRITE THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL: Vaughn has a flair for words that makes her the unofficial diplomat of the foursome. She’s great at keeping it together for everybody–but herself.
TO MARRY A PRINCE: Sassy Reenie can break hearts as easily as she can take out a bully without breaking a nail. But her live-for-today attitude leads to a tragic mistake that will haunt the girls for years.
TO BE FAMOUS: From the ashes of a ravaged home life, amid rumors and bad feelings, Susan rises to fame as a glamorous network anchorwoman, proving that success is the best revenge. But forgiveness is another matter.
TO RUN THE WORLD: Audrey is the ultimate overachiever, but this takes a devastating toll on her health, her career, and her family. Perfection is a race where the finish line keeps moving. What will she sacrifice to win?
Girls Most Likely is an emotional, uplifting, often hilarious glimpse into the lives of today’s ever-changing African American women, sustained by love, laughter, and sisterhood.
Don’t miss the reading group guide in the back of the book.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Williams (On the Right Side of a Dream) delights in this chronicle of the evolving friendships among four African-American women from fifth grade through their 30th high school reunion. In a black Ohio community in the early '60s, bookish Vaughn Jones is rescued from an elementary school bully by pretty, popular Reenie Keller, who introduces her to angel-voiced Su Penn. Joined in junior high by seemingly flawless Audrey Taylor, the girls nurse one another though a litany of typical coming-of-age events: the death of relatives, troubled parents, boyfriend stealing, teen pregnancy and eating disorders. Later years find the four professionally successful, but still fraught with man trouble and family issues. Narrated in turn by each of the four characters and buoyed by vivid dialogue, the roster of obstacles rings true. While her first three narrators Vaughn, Reenie and Su sound similar, Audrey's neurotic voice shines: raised by a military father who demands perfection, Audrey is critical, driven and surprisingly funny. Despite a few anachronistic details (Starbucks in 1970s Ohio?) and a glossing-over of race issues, Williams's sustained portrayal of female friendship, with its loyalties and betrayals, is extremely entertaining.
